MIAMI, United States. – Julio César Guerrero Batista, the father of one of those killed in the explosion and subsequent fire that occurred in the Melones military warehouse, in the province of Holguín, publicly denounced the lack of a true search for the bodies and the absence of clear explanations. by the authorities.
Through your Facebook profileGuerrero Batista—father of José Carlos Guerrero Gracía, one of the 13 officially declared dead—questioned the official version of the events:
“I, Julio César Guerrero Batista, father of José Carlos Guerrero Gracía, victim of the explosion in the Melones Military Unit, in Holguín, say that [la versión oficial de los hechos] It is a big lie because the search was never started, much less the investigations at the site of the explosion (…). At what point was the search and investigation carried out? This is the date [15 de enero] that the relatives of the victims have not been given a detailed explanation of what happened.”
In his message, the father also criticized that neither the minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) nor the secretary of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) in the province met with the relatives to at least offer them their condolences. “I tell him and demand [que] My son’s body and others are found. (…) I want my son’s body,” he stressed.
His statement took place just one day before the FAR Ministry published on its official Facebook page a note in which the 13 Cubans missing in the accident on January 7 were declared dead.
After several days of investigation, it was determined that the probable cause of the accident was an electrical failure due to a short circuit within the facility. According to the official note, the resulting explosions generated an “extremely complex” environment, with accumulated gases, severe structural damage and risk of collapses, which has prevented access to the site where the victims who “faced the incident to prevent its spread” are located. .
Among the deceased, nine were young recruits of the Military Service without the experience to handle an emergency of this nature and forced to be there by the obligation of the Military service.
The bodies of the accident victims have not been recovered because the place is inaccessible. Their names are:
- Major Leonar Palma Matos, Chief of Staff of the great unit.
- Major Carlos Carreño del Río, Chief of Anti-Aircraft Defense of the large unit.
- Second Petty Officer Yoennis Pérez Durán, Head of Brigade and Works Exploitation.
- Second Petty Officer Orlebani Tamé Torres, Maintenance and Conservation Technician.
- Soldier Leinier Jorge Sánchez Franco.
- Soldier Frank Antonio Hidalgo Almaguer.
- Liander Soldier José García Oliva.
- Soldier Yunior Hernández Rojas.
- Soldier Rayme Rojas Rojas.
On the same day of the incident, January 7, MINFAR reported that 13 people were missing. The information was limited to a list with the names of the missing (two with the rank of major, two second non-commissioned officers; and nine identified as “soldiers” who were serving the Military service).
The brief note at that time only added that his relatives had been informed and investigative actions at the scene of the incident continued.
“They have not searched at any time. They told the relatives that they could not do it because they could cause more explosions and they could not risk more lives, and they had to wait 72 hours,” he told a week ago. CubaNet Jesús Antonio, uncle of recruit Liander José García Oliva, 19 years old.
“[El miércoles 8 de enero] They went to the parents’ house and reported that there was no chance of life, that if anyone was alive they would have already tried to leave. It hurts me because they were left for dead without looking for them,” he added.
In August 2022, a large fire at the Matanzas Supertanker Base ended the lives of 17 firefighters. The flames spread to several warehouses and lasted for seven days.
Among the fatalities, four young people died – between 19 and 21 years old – who were not professional firefighters, but rather were performing Active Military Service and barely had the experience to act in such a scenario.
The Cuban Government does not publish information on the subject, nor does it even mention it. Given this information gap, CubaNet has built your own database which includes more than 40 cases of young people who left their homes for military units and never returned to their families.
