The disaster began Friday evening when lightning struck one of the eight reservoirs of the depot, located 100 km east of Havana. It has since spread, despite the intervention of firefighters.
A real chain reaction. The fire that broke out on Friday August 5 in the oil depot in Matanzas, Cuba, is still out of control, the country’s authorities announced on Monday August 8. Consumed by fire, the cylindrical structure of the first tank exploded in the early morning of Saturday, spreading the flames to a second tank containing 52,000 m3 of fuel oil. Despite the deployment of firefighters on cranes and helicopters, this second tank in turn tore after an explosion on Sunday at midnight, forcing an emergency evacuation. The fire then spread to two other tanks containing crude oil.
The situation is “very complex” in the oil site located about a hundred kilometers from Havana, with a fire zone “tall enough”, assured the governor of Matanzas, Mario Sabines, in a video posted on Twitter. The governor also said rescue teams from Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela were “being positioned” to spread the fire extinguishing foam (chemical foam used to put out fires), which “may take a while”.
According to a latest report, a firefighter died and the figure of 16 missing was reduced to 14, while 22 people are still hospitalized, including five in critical condition.