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Cuba is asking for help to contain the bonfire that injured dozens

#Cuba #bonfire #injured #dozens

Cuba on Saturday asked for help to contain a massive fire at a fuel depot sparked by lightning overnight that left 77 people injured and 17 firefighters missing.

Around 800 people have been evacuated from the region, according to Mario Sabines Lorenzo, governor of the western province of Matanzas, where a disaster struck late on Friday.

Three people were critically injured, according to the official Granma newspaper, and 15 others were hospitalized in very serious or serious condition.

The Cuban Presidency said 17 firefighters were missing, those “closest” to the blaze in an industrial area of ​​Matanzas, a city about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Havana.

“Cuba asked for help and advice from friendly countries experienced in the fuel field” to help put out the fire, the presidency added in a statement.

For his part, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said Cuba’s “foreign policy is activated to receive help from friendly countries.”

The US Embassy in Havana expressed “deep condolences” and said it was “in contact” with Cuban officials about the incident.

“In the meantime, we want to make it clear that U.S. law authorizes U.S. entities and organizations to provide disaster relief and response in Cuba.”

The United States has had sanctions against the communist one-party state for six decades.

British Ambassador George Hollingbery said his thoughts are with those affected and those working to contain the fire.

– ‘The sky was yellow’ –

The fire broke out after lightning struck a tank Friday at the depot on the outskirts of Matanzas, a city of 140,000.

By early Saturday morning, the fire had spread to a second tank, sending a huge plume of black smoke into the sky.

Helicopters worked hard on Saturday to fight the blaze, and ambulances, water tanks and cranes were at the scene.

Exhausted firefighters gathered at the plant, waiting to enter to search for their comrades who appeared unable to escape the second blast.

“We felt the explosion, like a shock wave that pushed you back,” Laura Martinez, a resident of La Ganadera near the disaster area, told AFP.

When 32-year-old Yuney Hernandez and her children heard the first explosion, they fled their home just two kilometers from the depot. A few hours later they returned.

Then, in the early hours of the morning, they heard more explosions, “like parts of the tank were falling off,” she said.

Ginelva Hernandez, 33, said she, her husband and their three children were asleep when the blasts struck.

“We threw ourselves out of bed, when we went out into the street the sky was yellow,” she told AFP.

“The fear of people on the street is uncontrollable,” she added.

– ‘Could take a while’ –

President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Twitter that the blaze “could take a while” to put out, while Asbel Leal, director of state oil company Cupet, said the country had never seen a fire “of the magnitude of today”.

According to Cupet, the first tank contained about 26,000 cubic meters of crude oil, about half its capacity when it was struck by lightning.

The second contained 52,000 cubic meters of fuel oil.

Granma reported the fire was likely due to “a failure in the lightning rod system, which could not withstand the energy of the electrical discharge.”

The depot powers the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric power plant, the largest in Cuba, but the plant’s operations have not been halted, the official said.

The disaster came at a time when the island — with an aging power grid and persistent fuel shortages — was facing growing difficulties in meeting increased energy demands in the face of intense summer heat.

Since May, authorities have imposed power outages of up to 12 hours a day in some regions – sparking at least 20 protests across the island.

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#Cuba #bonfire #injured #dozens

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