The fire spreads in the port of Matanzas while the cloud of black smoke already reaches two other provinces
The greatest fears were realized yesterday at the Matanzas fuel storage base in western Cuba, when a third tank exploded. Official media and witnesses broadcast live the moment when a gigantic flash preceded a column of fire and black smoke that rose tens of meters. The explosion aggravated the work of the emergency teams, with “three warehouses on fire” and a “fairly large” fire area, reported the provincial governor, Mario Sabines.
While Army helicopters dropped seawater, firefighters opened the way to facilitate the entry of specialist brigades from Mexico and Venezuela, who collaborate in the extinction work. Sabines explained that despite the collapse of the third tank, after the second tank poured fuel on it, “it is not all bad news.” Thus, he pointed out that “a large hydraulic pump” has been started and “equipment to launch foam” has been placed.
The fears, in any case, were far from dissipating because the cloud of black smoke, in addition to Matanzas, has already spread to the provinces of Mayabeque, with the consequent risk of causing respiratory diseases, as the newspaper ‘Granma ‘.
The Government raised yesterday to 125 people who have required medical assistance since the first tank burned on Friday when it was apparently struck by lightning. There is also confirmed one dead and 16 missing, almost all firefighters who were surprised by the explosion of the second tank while fighting against the flames of the first explosion. Likewise, the authorities detailed that some 5,000 people have been evacuated from the surroundings of the disaster site.
#explosion #fuel #tank #aggravates #fire #Cuba