Cuba: And second firefighter dead from fire at oil facilities – Fears of 14 more dead

Cuban authorities announced today the death of a 24-year-old firefighter in operation to extinguish the big fire in Matanzas oil facilities. This is the second confirmed victim, after the death of a 60-year-old firefighter that was announced on Saturday.

After six days, the fire is now contained “under control“, according to the fire brigade.

THE fate of 14 firefighters still missing since early Saturday, when a powerful explosion occurred in a tank that had gone up in flames after being struck by lightning earlier. All 14 firefighters are feared dead, which remains to be confirmed when the operation is over.

Fire in Cuba

From fire at the Matanzas oil facility, the largest in Cuba, 100 kilometers east of Havana, 130 people were injured and 22 of them are still hospitalized.

Four tanks, with a capacity of up to 52 million liters of crude oil or fuel oil, were destroyed. Cuba received help from Mexico and Venezuela, which sent equipment and experts to deal with fires at oil facilities.

The loss of millions of liters of fuel, of strategic importance for powering its thermoelectric plants Bucketis expected to worsen the already existing problems in the island’s electricity supply.

Source: News Beast

You may also like