#fuel #tank #collapses #helicopters #battle #Cuban #fire
Cuban Army helicopters tried to contain a fire that downed a third tank at a fuel depot on Monday after burning for days while the search for 16 missing firefighters continued.
According to an official update, the confirmed number from the fire was one dead, 24 people were treated in hospital – five of them in critical condition. Many others were treated for burns.
The fire on the outskirts of Matanzas, a city of 140,000 people 100 kilometers east of Havana, broke out late Friday after lightning struck one of eight tanks at the depot.
On Monday, the governor of western Matanzas province said the fire had spread to a third tank, which collapsed like two others before it.
“The third tank also collapsed after the second spilled its fuel,” as it collapsed on Sunday, Gov. Mario Sabines told state television.
He said the fire area was “very large” and the containment efforts “very complex”.
Planes, firefighters and other specialists and equipment arrived in Cuba from Mexico and Venezuela on Sunday after the island nation asked for help from “friendly countries”.
Sabines said teams are preparing an operation to fight the blazes with foam, “but that could take a while.”
– Efforts are “intensified” –
Around 1,900 people have been evacuated from the disaster area, officials said.
“Work to fight the fire is intensifying,” the Cuban Presidency said on Twitter Monday, adding that this was a “crucial day” for the effort.
After the first tank caught fire late Friday, the fire spread to a second tank in the early hours of Saturday.
The first two tanks collapsed overnight on Sunday, causing three other reported injuries and spilling their oil.
According to state oil company Cupet, the first tank held about 26,000 cubic meters of crude oil, about half its capacity.
The second contained 52,000 cubic meters of fuel oil. It was initially not clear how full the third tank was.
Firefighters had struggled to prevent the third tank from catching fire and doused it with water to keep it cool, but ultimately to no avail.
The depot powers Antonio Guiteras’ thermoelectric power plant, the largest in the communist country.
The disaster came at a time when the island — with an aging power grid and persistent fuel shortages — was facing growing difficulties in meeting energy needs.
Since May, authorities have imposed power cuts of up to 12 hours a day in some regions – sparking protests in the Portuguese nation of 11 million.
Social Tags:
#fuel #tank #collapses #helicopters #battle #Cuban #fire
