1 dead, 120 injured in fire at Cuban oil depot

A fire broke out at an oil depot in the Cuban city of Matanzas (100 kilometers from Havana) on Saturday. During this, more than 120 people present in the depot were injured.

Officials said that they found the body of one person on the spot. There are also reports of 17 firefighters missing. People said that after the lightning struck, the sound of 4 explosions was heard.

An official said – Lightning fell on a petrol tank, causing the fire. Due to bad weather and strong winds, the fire later spread to other tanks. On receiving the news of the accident, the police and fire brigade was dispatched. He said- According to the information we got, the first tank which caught fire had 26 thousand cubic meters of crude oil. The second tank had 56 thousand cubic meters of fuel.

The official said, out of more than 120 people injured in the accident, five are in critical condition. The official said that seeing the fire became so terrible that about 1,900 people were evacuated from nearby areas.

The government of Cuba, going through a serious fuel crisis, sought help from friendly countries to control the fire. Mexico and Venezuela sent several of their fire teams, and the US also provided technical advice. Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canale thanked Mexico, Venezuela, and the US government for their help.

Cuba is grappling with daily blackouts and fuel shortages. There is no electricity here for 12 hours. In such a situation, due to the fire in the oil depot, now the situation can get worse.