BP oil spill cap delayed

BP will deploy a small containment dome in the next couple of days to try to trap oil from a blown-out undersea well in the Gulf of Mexico, a company spokesman says.

The dome is BP's latest attempt to control the roughly 5,000 barrels per day that has been gushing from the broken well since the rig caught fire on April 20.

The oil spill could become the worst environmental disaster in history and threatens an ecological catastrophe along the US Gulf Coast.

Meanwhile, authorities in Mexico are conducting clean up drills in case the new attempt to cap the well fails.

Officials fear the oil spill could reach their coasts if the leak is not stopped by August, when seasonal currents start to reverse and flow south.