A fire of medium proportions affected the garage of a five-story multifamily building located on Tulipán and Central streets, near Rancho Boyeros avenue in Havana, on Wednesday afternoon. The accident was due to an electric motor that was parked on the premises, according to what they told 14ymedio several neighbors of the property.
The smoke caused that at least four residents in the place had to be transferred by ambulance to administer oxygen. According to this newspaper at the scene of the events, it was an old woman and two children who left the building on their own feet, although with coughing and breathing problems. In addition to a woman who must have been charged.
In advance, around 5:20 p.m., residents in the area began to smell a strong smell of burning plastic. “We went out to the balcony and the whole street was pure smoke,” a resident in the same block told this newspaper. “There was tremendous shouting because nobody knew exactly where so much smoke was coming from,” he adds.
A few minutes later the smoke could be seen in several of the tall buildings that characterize the area and a strong smell of burned plastic spread throughout the neighborhood
A few minutes later the smoke could be seen in several of the tall buildings that characterize the area and a strong smell of burned plastic spread throughout the neighborhood where several ministries such as Transport and Agriculture are located, as well as other official dependencies.
“It was a motorine that they had in the garage, it seems that it took a candle by itself and when people realized it already had the smoke inside the house,” explains another neighbor. “Now they are cordoning off the area and evacuating everyone in the building out.”
Electric motor fires are becoming more frequent in Cuba. Last September, a fire in a house in the city of Matanzas caused the death of a 19-year-old girl and two wounded, a 13-year-old boy and a 20-year-old boy.
Only a few months earlier, in May, another motorboat fire caused the death of three members of the same family in the city of Sancti Spíritus, including a seven-year-old boy. The vehicle, which was connected by charging the lithium battery, exploded inside the house. The accident became the most serious of its kind in Cuba. In 2019, 208 fires of electric motorcycles with lithium batteries were recorded, 164 of them serious and 44 minor.
With the transportation crisis, electric motorcycles with lithium batteries have become increasingly popular on the island, a phenomenon that has increased since the product is also offered in state stores in freely convertible currency. In the last year, 10,000 electric units of 21 models have been marketed, including motorcycles, bicycles, motorcycles and tricycles.
Official investigations revealed that among the main causes of fire are reckless acts when charging electric motorcycles, for example leaving the lithium battery charger connected without the corresponding control, using inappropriate chargers, not cooling the motorcycle before charging it, replacing devices originals of the electric motorcycle or the illegal manufacture of batteries.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our journal. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
