17 missing, 80 injured after lightning sparks huge fire in Cuba, city of Matanzas, oil Tanks

1. A fire set off by a lightning strike at an oil storage facility raged uncontrolled Saturday in the city of Matanzas, where four explosions and flames injured nearly 80 people and left 17 firefighters missing, Cuban authorities said.

Firefighters and other specialists were still trying to quell the blaze at the Matanzas Supertanker Base, where the fire began during a thunderstorm Friday night, the Ministry of Energy and Mines tweeted. The governmeht said later that it had asked for help from international experts in “friendly countries” with experience in the oil sector.
-
2. The official newspaper Granma attributed the fire, which began Friday evening, to an "electric discharge" that struck a tank at the depot outside the city of Matanzas, 100 kilometers east of Havana.

The fire spread early Saturday from one fuel tank to a second, sending a huge plume of black smoke into the sky.

Local meteorologist Elier Pila showed satellite images of the area with a dense plume of black smoke moving from the point of the fire westward and reaching east to Havana.

The Faustino Perez provincial hospital reported that 67 people had been injured, with 15 in serious or very serious condition.
-
3. Producto de un rayo que impactó un megatanque de petróleo en la ciudad de Matanzas, se produjo un incendio en una zona industrial de la ciudad. La presidencia del país informó de las acciones para controlar el siniestro y proteger a la población que reside cerca del lugar.
-
4. Al menos 77 personas han resultado heridas y 17 bomberos se encuentran ahora mismo desparecidos debido al enorme incendio declarado en el puerto de superpetroleros de la ciudad cubana de Matanzas, a unos 80 kilómetros al este de La Habana.
-
5. Díaz-Canel agradece solidaridad con el pueblo cubano

El presidente cubano agradeció a los gobiernos de México, Venezuela, Rusia, Nicaragua, Argentina y Chile, que con prontitud han ofrecido ayuda material solidaria ante esta compleja situación.

“También agradecemos ofrecimiento de asesoría técnica por parte de EEUU”, dijo.
#ciudaddematanzas #incendio #bomberos #superpetroleros #desparecidos
#lightningstrike #lightning #firefighters #fueltank #missingpeople
#ciudadcubana #ayuda #enormeincendio #siniestro #BahíadeMatanzas