Reuters
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NOS News•yesterday, 22:05
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At least 77 people have been injured in a fire at an oil storage facility in the Cuban port city of Matanzas. Seventeen firefighters are missing, Cuban authorities said. The extinguishing work is still in progress.
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The fire broke out last night local time when a tank of crude oil was struck by lightning. The lightning strike was followed by several explosions.
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Images show thick, black plumes of smoke above the oil storage. In Matanzas, a city located 100 kilometers west of the capital Havana, people living near the oil storage facility have been evacuated, the Cuban president’s office reported. It is not yet known if anyone was killed in the fire.
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Images of the fire and a nearby hospital, where many are injured:
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Dozens injured after huge fire in Cuban oil tank
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Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermúdez wrote on Twitter that the missing firefighters must be found urgently. He traveled to Matanzas, where he visited victims of the fire.
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The Cuban government has called on the international community to help fight the fire.
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The oil storage fire threatens to deepen Cuba’s energy crisis further. Cubans have long suffered power cuts due to fuel shortages and aging power plants.
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