The explosion of a fuel depot in the municipality of Matanzas, in western Cuba, left several people injured this Saturday (6). In the early afternoon, the Faustino Perez hospital said 67 people were injured, of which 18 were in a serious condition. The Cuban dictatorship reported that 17 firefighters who were in the area closest to the fire are missing.
The fire started on Friday (5), when lightning struck one of the eight fuel tanks, and has not yet been brought under control. This Saturday morning, a second warehouse was hit by the flames. According to the Caribbean island’s official press, the first tank “contained about 26,000 cubic meters of domestic crude oil, about 50% of its maximum capacity when lightning struck the dome of the facility.”
The two tanks are located at the Supertanques Base in the Matanzas industrial region, close to the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, one of the largest in Cuba. According to the country’s state television broadcaster, some families in Matanzas are being evacuated from their homes in residential neighborhoods closest to the affected industrial region.
