Cuba fire rages on, 17 firefighters go missing
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Efforts to extinguish the fire in the oil tank farm in Matanzas, Cuba, are still underway for the second day as reinforcements are called in from neighboring nations.
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Black smoke from the fire in Matanzas, Cuba (Bloomberg)
After a fire went ablaze Friday night at an oil tank facility in Matanzas, Cuba, firefighting and rescue operations went on until Saturday due to the intensity of the fire.
How did the fire start?
It is suspected that lightning struck a storage tank during a thunderstorm, leading to a spark reaction with the oil, which in turn spread to a second tank, leading to a series of explosions.
“The mission of the day is to keep the third tank cold,” in hopes of preventing the flames from spreading into more of the site, provincial Gov. Mario Sabines said.
The facility, having eight huge storage tanks in total, hold oil that is used for fuelling electricity generation.
Most of the fuel held in the tank where the fire initially started was believed to have been consumed, officials said.
As a result of the fire, the black smoke spread more than 100 kilometers to Havana, carrying clouds containing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and other toxic and hazardous substances, according to The Ministry of Science and Technology.
17 firefighters go missing
Authorities found a body at the scene which they later as 60-year-old firefighter Juan Carlos Santana. Officials stated that a group of 17 firefighters had gone missing while trying to fight the flames, and the search operation, unfortunately, has been postponed due to the yet hazardous nature of the incident.
A total of 122 people were treated for injuries, including five that officials said were in critical condition, and 4,946 people had been evacuated.
Specialized firefighter teams have been called in from Mexico and Venezuela, as they began arriving with their equipment on Saturday, bringing along helicopters and specialized chemicals for fighting oil fire.
The Cuban President, Miguel Diaz-Canel, expressed his gratitude to Mexico, Venezuela, Russia, Nicaragua, Argentina, and Chile for their offers of help.
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