Spain will send this Friday medical material and medicines to Cuba for the fire in Matanzas that has left at least one dead, 128 injured and 14 missing. The incident occurs, according to an Efe report, after Havana requested support through the European Civil Protection Mechanism.
The European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, pointed out on his Twitter account that the offer made by Spain after Cuba’s request for help will be sent this Friday and added that the European Union is prepared to help coordinate responses to this request for support.
following #Cuba‘s activation of the ?? Civil Protection Mechanism, an offer of medication and medical items made by ?? will be deployed on Friday to help assisting the affected people. I express my solidarity with the victims. the #US stands ready to help coordinate the response. https://t.co/TpmbcsHOXL
— Janez Lenarcic (@JanezLenarcic) August 10, 2022
“I express my solidarity with the victims,” said Lenarcic after the fire that started last Friday when lightning struck a fuel depot in the industrial zone of Matanzas.
The European Civil Protection Mechanism, in which all EU Member States and six other third countries participate, allows Brussels to coordinate requests for assistance in emergencies in which the capacities of another country are overwhelmed and in which other governments spontaneously offer assistance.
Since its creation in 2001, the Mechanism has been activated more than 600 times inside and outside the EU, points out the Spanish agency.
Efe/OnCuba.