Firefighter Juan Carlos Santana Garrido, 60, is the first identified fatality of the fire that still continues at the Matanzas Supertanker Base. The body was found this Saturday and was one of the 17 missing.
Cuban authorities have not reported information about the other 16 people. This Saturday, the Cuban Presidency reported that in addition to the injured there is also a group of missing persons, without specifying who they are. In a morning report, the EFE agency indicated that they were firefighters.
According to the newspaper Giron, relatives who ask about people who do not appear on the lists of injured or those who continue to extinguish the fire, should go to the Velazco hotel. “The hotel is the center of care for the families of those who have not yet appeared,” said psychologist Laura María Hernández, who is in charge of mental health specialists at the Faustino Pérez hospital.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Health confirmed this Sunday that 122 more people were injured. Of these 24 remain hospitalized, including five critical and three serious, the rest have been discharged. On the other hand, some 4,946 people have also been evacuated from the surroundings of the incident.
So far, the official press reports that the firefighters continue with the work of suffocating the fire, which originated around 7 pm last Friday, supposedly, due to a lightning strike on the structure of tank 52, with national crude oil. . The fire spread to a second tank fuel oil imported and threatens to spread to a third party.
Delegations of experts from Mexico and Venezuela have joined the extinction work. The first of three Mexican planes arrived last night at the Juan Gualberto Gómez airport in Matanzas in an aircraft of the Air Force of that country, the Boeing 737-700.
He transferred the Mexican delegation made up of 60 members of the Armed Forces and 16 technicians from the state company Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) “with experience in cooling this type of disaster,” published Cubadebate. The other two planes will transport chemicals and materials to fight the fire, according to statements by the Mexican ambassador to Cuba, Miguel Díaz Reynoso.
During the early hours of Sunday, the A340-600 aircraft from Venezuela also arrived at the Juan Gualberto Gómez international airport in Varadero with 35 specialist firefighters and technicians from the state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and help to put out the flames.
The Ministry of Public Health confirmed this Sunday that 122 more people were injured and 4,946 have been evacuated.
Also, The United States offered technical advice to put out the fire. Yesterday, the Island’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, stated that they were coordinating the aid. Nicaragua and Chile have also offered help, in addition to the European Union bloc, who expressed their willingness to collaborate.
This Sunday morning, the Matanzas Radio 26 station reported that some trucks are already moving material to extinguish the fire. In addition, the ship María Cristina arrived in the bay of the province to evacuate 6,000 tons of fuel from the Supertanks.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio 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 newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
