BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill well now "effectively dead"

London, Sept 29 (ANI): British Petroleum (BP) has finally capped the leaking well that has spewed millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

According to the BBC, a pressure test showed a cement plug put in place by BP to permanently "kill" the well was holding.

The April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oilrig killed 11 workers and sent an estimated 4.9 million barrels into the Gulf waters.

The top US federal official overseeing the disaster, Coast Guard Adm Thad Allen, said that the well was now "effectively dead".

"Additional regulatory steps will be undertaken but we can now state definitively that the Macondo Well poses no continuing threat to the Gulf of Mexico," Adm Allen added.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has hailed the announcement and thanked those who had "worked around the clock to respond to this crisis and ultimately complete this challenging but critical step to ensure that the well has stopped leaking forever".

The disaster has caused massive environmental damage hundreds of miles off the US coast. It led to BP chief executive Tony Hayward stepping down and the imposition of a moratorium on deepwater offshore drilling. (ANI)