The huge fire declared on Friday in the supertanker port of the Cuban city of Matanzas, some 80 kilometers east of Havana, has left nearly 80 injured, three of them in critical condition, and 17 missing firefighters, as indicated last night. The authorities.
The Cuban media indicated that the fire originated from the explosion of up to four of the eight existing fuel tanks in the area, apparently struck by lightning, which fed the flames that caused burns to many of the injured. Faced with the “imminent danger of the dissemination of toxic gases,” the local government of Matanzas ordered “the massive evacuation of the closest populations” to the epicenter industrial zone of the tragedy.
Several planes poured seawater and sand over the burned area to prevent the flames from spreading to other fuel depots, and physical barriers were placed as firebreaks to protect the dock and nearby neighborhoods.
“The extinction of the fire may still take time,” the country’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, stressed on Twitter, while the director of Commerce and Supply of the state Cuba-Petroleum Union (Cupet), Asbel Leal, specified that the island will never it had faced a fire of “the magnitude that we have today”. In fact, Havana is already working on coordination with the United States to materialize Washington’s offer of help.
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