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Cuba: Second firefighter dead while extinguishing fire at oil facilities

Cuban authorities announced today the death of a 24-year-old firefighter in the operation to extinguish the large fire at oil facilities in Matanzas. 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 “under control”, according to the fire service.

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

From the fire at the Matanzas oil facilities, 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 Cuba’s thermal power plants, is expected to worsen the already existing problems in the island’s electricity supply.

Source: RES-MPE

Source: Capital

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