MIAMI, United States.- The Cuban authorities announced this Wednesday afternoon that the fire in the Matanzas industrial zone, which for five days has been consuming part of the country’s fuel storage base, was declared “controlled” by the Corps. Island Fire Department.
“We can now say that the fire is under control,” he told the press Alexander Ávalos Jorge, second chief of extinction of the Cuban Fire Department, who thanked the help of Mexico and Venezuela.
The fire, which has so far left one dead and 14 missing, destroyed four tanks with a capacity to store 50 million liters of fuel each. The tanks, located at the super tanker base in Matanzas, they were melted because of the fire, the regime said on Tuesday night.
Ávalos, who assured that “today we feel calmer”, explained that there are still some fires in the area that have not been extinguished and that total extinction “is not going to happen today.” However, aerial means are cooling the area and extinguishing these sources.
According to statements made on official television by a Cuban pilot, one of the four tanks that were set on fire “is already practically off. Today we are going to finish it off”. Likewise, he added that “the work was effective”, since the pipe that connects the deposit with four other equal tanks, located 150 meters away, was kept cool. These tanks, says the government, are out of danger.
The fire at the Matanzas Supertanker Base, considered the largest crude oil storage center in Cuba, began on Friday night after lightning struck one of the eight tanks there.
Less than 24 hours after the incident began, the Havana government asked “friendly countries” for help, and Mexico and Venezuela responded to the call. This Tuesday night, according to official information, at least 20 shipments from both countries had arrived on the island since Saturday with specialists and supplies to put out the fire.
From Mexico, and by presidential order, 13 planes and two ships have arrived in Cuba, and 4 planes have arrived from Venezuela. The shipments included firefighters, specialists, foam, hoses and other means.
Until this Wednesday, the Cuban government has only disclosed the identity of a firefighter who died in the incident. Some 128 people have received medical attention for burns and injuries, 20 of whom remain hospitalized.
For their part, 14 firefighters are still missing, and according to Governor Miguel Díaz-Canel, “as long as the flames are suffocated and the temperature drops, we will be able to enter to recover the victims.”
Five days after the fire started, the regime has not yet released the identities and ages of the missing firefighters. However, the complaints on social networks have gone viral, after relatives of young people who were passing compulsory military service have denounced that they have not heard from their loved ones since they were sent to the front line to fight the flames.
“It is going to be a very hard moment for which we have to be prepared and provide support to these families,” Díaz-Canel said of the recovery of the victims.
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