( CNN ) -- Rescuers on Friday suspended the search for the 11 people missing from the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico , the Coast Guard announced . `` After three days of constant searching , covering more than 5,200 square miles , we 've reached the point where reasonable expectation of survivors has passed , '' Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry told reporters Friday evening . The Coast Guard began notifying family of the missing that they were preparing to end the search early Friday afternoon , Landry said . The Coast Guard and the Minerals Management Service -- the agency that regulates the oil industry in federal waters -- are conducting an active search for casualties , she said . Earlier Friday , Landry said conversations with survivors of the blast that set the oil rig Deepwater Horizon ablaze Tuesday night indicate that the missing workers `` might have been in the vicinity of this explosion . '' Landry said neither the Coast Guard nor BP PLC -- which leased the rig from Transocean Ltd. -- would release the names of the dead out of respect for the families . She said the workers were from Louisiana , Texas and Mississippi . One person injured in the explosion remained hospitalized on Friday , Landry said . She said the person is `` doing well '' but is expected to stay in the hospital for seven to 10 days . Landry said crews were continuing efforts to clean up a 1- by 12-mile-long oil slick spreading through Gulf waters 40 miles offshore . She said crude oil did not appear to be leaking out of the wellhead , located 5,000 feet below the water 's surface . But remote vehicles will continue surveying the scene , she said . `` We are at the ready to respond should something happen , '' she said . `` We 're going to be very forward-leaning . We ca n't back off from this at all . '' The Coast Guard is still attempting to locate the rig , and two nearby underwater pipelines -- one owned by the Shell oil company -- have been shut down in case there is a collision , Landry said . The closest other rig is more than eight miles away , she said . BP officials said Thursday they did not know whether oil or fuel was leaking from the sunken rig . But BP Vice President David Rainey said , `` It certainly has the potential to be a major spill . '' Crews had recovered 181 barrels of an oil-and-water mixture by midday Friday , Coast Guard Petty Officer Ashley Butler said . Some of the oil had evaporated from the water 's surface , she said , but about 200 barrels remained . The Coast Guard said it was also keeping a close eye on activity underwater . It would take about nine days for the oil to reach the shore , but the Coast Guard plans to clean up any spills before that happens , Butler said . The rig -- a mobile unit that moves to different locations in the Gulf of Mexico -- was about 52 miles southeast of Venice , Louisiana , when the explosion occurred Tuesday night . There were no indications it was a terrorist incident , the Coast Guard said . Officials said 126 people were on board at the time of the explosion . Of the 115 accounted-for workers , 17 injured were evacuated by helicopter from the rig . An additional 94 people were taken to shore with no major injuries , and four more were transferred to another vessel , according to the Coast Guard . The rig had been drilling for oil in its current location since January , said Eileen Angelico , a spokeswoman for Minerals Management Service . Angelico said the agency has begun interviewing people involved in the incident as it seeks to determine what caused Tuesday night 's blast .
NEW : `` Reasonable expectation of survivors has passed '' Coast Guard rear admiral says . CNN suspends search for missing in the Gulf of Mexico oil rig fire . Interviews with survivors indicate the 17 missing may have been in vicinity of explosion . Oil slick measuring more than 5,200 square miles spreads from site of sunken rig , Coast Guard says .