So far there has been no official information on victims or the cause of the incident.
MIAMI, United States. – A fire that occurred this Friday afternoon at the facilities of the Ñico López oil refinery, in Havana, would have been controlled in less than 20 minutes, according to publications on social networks by journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso, from the Caribbean Channel (state).
The AFP agency and regional media also confirmed columns of smoke visible from different parts of the Cuban capital. So far there has been no official information on victims or the cause of the incident.
At 3:46 pm, Alonso posted on his Facebook account: “In development… Fire is reported at the Havana refinery or in areas close to it. We are arriving at the scene.” Eleven minutes later, at 3:57 pm, added: “Controlled fire.”
In parallel, a radio conversation between firefighters provided to CubaNet The incident was located around 3:40 pm. The exchange details that it was not necessary to reinforce with specific agents for extinction.
“At this time, the spread through vegetation and other routes is already completely limited,” says one of the firefighters. However, work continued with the extinguishing and cooling of isolated points within the affected warehouse.
According to the conversation between firefighters, the workers operated “on three lines, with powerful nozzles” and observed that there was “almost no smoke.” One of the people involved in the dialogue expresses that the fire was “almost, almost controlled.”
The presence of columns of black smoke rising over the Havana bay was confirmed by AFP journalists who were at the scene, although they stated that it was not possible to immediately determine whether the flames affected fuel tanks inside the refinery.
Regional media broadcast citizen reports from the municipality of Regla about “dense smoke” and the mobilization of firefighters to the Havana Bay area.
So far there is no official statement from Cuba Petróleos (CUPET) or provincial authorities about possible victims, specific material damage or the causes of the incident. Likewise, it has not been reported whether the activity of the refinery – a strategic facility for fuel production in the Cuban capital – was interrupted by the incident.
