The Government of Havana made an official statement after several citizens used their social networks to denounce a strong smell of gas in the streets of the capital.
According to the official media outlet Canal Caribe, officials from the Cuba Petróleo Union (Cupet) point out that the odor reported by many on the night of Saturday, September 2, was due to the oil refining process at the Havana refinery, but that it did not represent a danger. some for the population.
State journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso said that the institutional communication department of the Ministry of Energy and Mines declared that everything was under control, ruling out the possibility of a gas leak.
“This situation may be related to the oil refining process at the Havana refinery. They rule out that it is a manufactured gas leak. They specify that during the day they will offer more information ”, reads the publication shared by the communicator.
The pro-government reporter ended his publication demanding transparency from the Castro authorities, since they must be honest when it comes to keeping the people of the Island safe.
“We reiterate to the institutions the responsibility they have to offer timely and clear information to the press, especially when dealing with an issue that generates alarms in the population. There is a recently approved Communication Law that determines this”.
The communicator’s comments could be due to the many times in which these authorities have kept secret situations that have put the residents of the Island at riskwhich end up being revealed by complaints made by the population.
The situation began this Saturday, when several Internet users residing in the capital noticed a strong smell of gas in various towns in Havana, denouncing what was happening on their social networks.
“Here on the beach you can also feel it, and yesterday the smell of sulfur was unbearable”; “Asere, here in Santos Suárez… tremendous bitch gas stench…” and “In the morning, I felt a strong smell of gas here in Cerro”, were some of the comments that circulated on the Internet.
Mi #Habana from where you are feeling the smell of gas, is it only in the Cerro area? pic.twitter.com/QBIniMEiKB
— ASERE YA (@AsereYaPing) September 3, 2023
The concern among Internet users is somewhat understandable, since a gas leak was responsible for one of the biggest disasters that occurred in the capital in recent years, the explosion of the Saratoga hotel in 2022.
The incident, which occurred in early May, injured 52 people, taking the lives of 47 othersincluding a minor and a Spanish tourist who was visiting with her partner.
