Havana — A lightning strike on an oil storage facility has caused a fire to rage out of control in the Cuban city of Matanzas. Four explosions and flames left 121 people injured and 17 firefighters missing. Cuban authorities said an unidentified body was found late Saturday.
Firefighters and other experts were trying to extinguish a fire at the Matanzas supertanker base that broke out during a thunderstorm Friday night, the Ministry of Energy and Mines tweeted. Authorities said about 800 people had been evacuated from Dubrok district, which is closest to the fire.
The government said it had sought help from international experts from "friendly countries" with experience in the oil sector.
Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cosio said the US government had provided technical assistance to put the fires under control. On his Twitter account, he said, "The proposal is in the hands of experts for proper coordination." , thanked Venezuela, Russia, Nicaragua, Argentina and Chile for their offers of help.A helping flight from Mexico arrived on Saturday evening.
The official Cuban news agency said lightning struck one of his tanks, causing a fire, which then spread to his second tank. A thick column of black smoke billowed from the facility as military helicopters flew overhead and dropped water on the flames, stretching him more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) west toward Havana.
Roberto de la Torre, head of firefighting in Matanzas, said firefighters were spraying water on intact tanks to keep them cool, hoping to keep the fire from spreading. said there is.
The Cuban Ministry of Health reported that 121 people were injured, five of them in critical condition. The Republic's presidential office said the 17 missing were "firefighters who were trying to contain the spread in the nearest area".
Later on Saturday, the Ministry of Health said in a statement that a body had been found and authorities were trying to identify it.
The accident occurred at a time when Cuba was suffering from a fuel shortage. There is no immediate announcement on how much oil has burned or is at risk at the storage facility, which has eight huge tanks that store oil used to fuel the power plant. was.
"I was in the gym when I felt the first explosion. A column of smoke and horrible flames shot up the sky," resident Adiel Gonzalez told the Associated Press by phone. . "This city smells strongly of sulphur."
He also said that some decided to leave the Versailles district, which is a little further from the tank yard than Dubrok.
} Dozens of ambulances, police and fire engines were seen in the streets of Matanzas, a city of about 140,000 people on Matanzas Bay.
Local meteorologist Elier Pila showed satellite images of the area with a dense plume of black smoke moving westward from the fire spot and reaching east to Havana.
" Its plume could be nearly 150 kilometers long," Pila wrote on his Twitter account. Please contact
