A report from Reuters.
A second fuel storage tank near Cuba’s supertanker port in Matanzas exploded Saturday morning after a fire burned overnight after lightning struck another tank Friday evening.
Cuban state television said at least 67 people were injured in the second blast and 17 firefighters were unaccounted for. Civilians had already been evacuated from the area.
Health Minister José Angel Portal Miranda said in a tweet that of the injured, three were in critical condition, three were very serious and 12 others were in “serious” condition.
Seven patients were transferred to hospitals in the capital, Havana.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited the scene 80 miles east of Havana around midnight and returned in the morning as state television broadcast live coverage of the unfolding disaster.
Diaz-Canel tweeted before the second explosion that first responders were “trying to avoid the spread of flames and any fuel spill” in Matanzas Bay.
A later tweet from his office said Cuba was asking friendly countries for advice on putting out the fire.
By Saturday morning, the fire appeared completely out of control, threatening other fuel storage tanks as smoke reached Havana.
A paramedic at the scene, who asked not to be identified, said by phone that cold water was being poured over nearby tanks.
Cuba is suffering from daily blackouts and fuel shortages, and the loss of fuel and storage capacity is likely to worsen the situation.
Jorge Pinon, director of the University of Texas at Austin’s Energy and Environment Program in Latin America and the Caribbean, said the area had eight large tanks each with a capacity of 300,000 barrels.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue
“The area is a shipping point for fuel to various power plants, not just the one nearby, so this could be very bad news for the power grid,” he said.
