POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Aug 7, 2022 : 121 people, including the energy minister, were injured in a terrible fire at an energy depot in Cuba due to lightning. 17 firefighters are missing. One body has been recovered so far. Havana asked friendly countries for help in controlling the fire yesterday local time. News from AFP.
Officials said a fuel tank exploded in western Matanzas province late Friday after lightning struck it. About 1,900 people have been evacuated from the affected areas.
Provincial official Luis Armando Wong said at a press conference on Saturday evening that one body has been recovered from the scene.
Five people were seriously injured, according to an update on Twitter from the Cuban presidential office. Three others are in hospital in critical condition.
Energy Minister Livan Aronte was among those injured. In addition, 17 firefighters “closest” to the scene of the fire in an industrial area in Matanzas were missing, the president’s office said. The city is located 100 kilometers east of Havana.
In a statement, the presidential office said, Cuba has asked for help and advice from friendly countries with experience in the energy sector to put out the fire.
Later in the day, President Miguel Díaz-Canel thanked the governments of Mexico, Venezuela, Russia, Nicaragua, Argentina and Chile for offering immediate equipment support. He also said, ‘We also appreciate the technical advice offered by the United States.’
The US Embassy in Havana said in a tweet, ‘We want to clarify that US law authorizes US institutions and organizations to provide disaster relief and participate in rescue operations in Cuba.’
The United States has imposed sanctions on the one-party communist state for nearly six decades. A tank at the depot caught fire after lightning struck it on Friday in the suburbs of Matanzas. 1 lakh 40 thousand people live in the city.
Another explosion occurred early yesterday when the second tank caught fire. In this, smoke can be seen curling up in the sky. The helicopters tried their best yesterday to put out the fire. Ambulances, water tanks and cranes are at the scene. Exhausted firefighters gather near the plant. They were waiting for their colleagues. It is believed that they could not protect themselves from the second blast.
President Diaz-Canel said it would ‘take time’ to put out the fire. Asbel Lyal, director of state oil company Cupet, said the country has never faced a situation like today’s fire.
According to Cupet, the tank was holding half its capacity of 26,000 cubic meters of crude oil when the lightning struck. The second tank had 52,000 cubic meters of fuel oil.
