An oil storage facility fire started by a lightning strike burned out of control on Saturday in the city of Matanzas, injuring close to 80 people and leaving 17 firefighters missing, according to Cuban officials.
The Matanzas supertanker base fire, which started during a thunderstorm on Friday night, is currently being battled by firefighters and other experts, according to a tweet from the ministry of energy and mining. Later, the administration claimed that it had sought assistance from foreign specialists in “friendly countries” with knowledge of the oil industry.
According to the official Cuban news agency, a fire was started when lightning struck one tank, and it later spread to a second tank. A thick column of black smoke billowed from the complex and extended westward more than 100km (62 miles) toward Havana as military helicopters buzzed overhead dousing the fire with water.
Firefighters were spraying water on intact tanks to keep them cold to contain the fire, according to Roberto de la Torre, director of fire operations in Matanzas.
The Matanzas province government’s Facebook page said that 77 persons had been hurt and 17 were still missing. The 17 were “firefighters who were in the closest area trying to prevent the spread,” according to the republic’s presidency.
Seven of the injured were brought to the renowned burn section of the Calixto Garca hospital in Havana.
Cuba is experiencing a fuel scarcity at the time of the accident. There was no early information on how much of the oil stored at the complex, which contains eight enormous tanks holding oil used to run electricity-generating plants, had burnt or was in danger.
Gonzalez noted that some residents chose to leave the Versailles neighborhood, which is a bit farther from the tank farm, while authorities stated that roughly 800 people were evacuated from the Dubrocq neighborhood, which was closer to the fire.
