MIAMI, United States.- On the morning of this Sunday, August 7, the Cuban authorities continue trying to contain the fire at the Matanzas Supertanker Base, after a lightning strike struck one of the fuel tanks on Friday evening. and cause a large fire which has left 16 firefighters missing, one dead and 122 people injured.
According to a report from the Caribbean Channel, the first deceased in the incident was identified as the combatant Juan Carlos Santana Garrido, who had been reported among the missing. Santana Garrido remained for 15 years in the Special Fire Protection Command of the Camilo Cienfuegos Refinery, adds the notification of the state media.
According to the Cuban official mediaOn Saturday night, teams from Mexico and Venezuela arrived on the island to help extinguish the fire.
The two flights from Mexico transported 82 Mexicans, including 60 military personnel and 16 specialist technicians from Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), who traveled at the request of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in addition to equipment and chemical products.
For its part, Conviasa flight A 340-642, from Venezuela, arrived with 35 firefighters, specialists and technicians from Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA). They are men “of the most qualified in this type of disaster,” the Venezuelan regime’s People’s Power Minister for Oil, Tareck El Aissami, said on Twitter.
So far, the authorities of the Cuban regime assure that a third tank has not been damaged by the fire, and that work continues at the Supertanker Base.
The Minister of Public Health (MINSAP), José Ángel Portal Miranda, explained this morning that of the 122 injured people who were treated since the first explosion, 98 have been discharged, 24 remain hospitalized, five in critical condition, three in serious condition, and 16 care.
“There is no increase in patients in the West with respiratory diseases,” he added.
Meanwhile, according to CUPET, during the early morning, 520 cubic meters of fuel were evacuated, and the María Cristina ship arrived at the port of Matanzas, with the capacity to evacuate six thousand tons of fuel.
The authorities of Matanzas assured that for the main city there is no danger from the fire, and that work is being done to contain the flames, so that they do not expand, however, the cloud of smoke has become more visible since this Saturday afternoon from the Cuban capital.
A photo published at 6:00 pm this Saturday by Cubadebate shows the intensity of the smoke columns coming from Matanzas, and the CITMA explained this morning that the weather conditions favor that, over the northern sector of the provinces of Matanzas, Mayabeque and Havana continue to run cloud of smoke.
A report from the official Cuban News Agency (ACN) explained that the national crude tank hit by the electrical discharge and now by the fire was at 50% of its filling capacity, which is 50,000 cubic meters. So far there are two tanks that are on fire.
For his part, Rigel Rodríguez Cubells, director of the Matanzas Territorial Fuel Marketing Division, explained that the Supertanker Base —which has eight tanks— has a lightning rod system, but apparently the discharge was higher than what could have been protect this.
The Cuban government asked for international help and advice this Saturday from “friendly countries” and with experience in the oil issue to help put out the fire.
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