Fire breaks out at Cuban gasoline storage port Mexico, Venezuela sending assistance
A massive oil-fed hearth burned for a next day on Saturday close to Cuba’s supertanker port in Matanzas, as Mexico and Venezuela sent teams to enable combat the inferno and Cuba accepted a US provide of unspecified “technical advice”.
On Friday evening, lightning struck a single of eight storage tanks at the facility 60 miles east of Havana. Heat from the blaze reached a next tank on Saturday and the wind blew flames dangerously close to a third.
“We express deep gratitude to the governments of Mexico, Venezuela, Russia, Chile … which have promptly presented content assist in the deal with of this elaborate problem,” tweeted Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
“We also take pleasure in the supply of technological suggestions from the US,” he mentioned.
Cuban authorities claimed at the very least 121 people ended up wounded in the second blast, of which 36 remained hospitalized, five in important condition. 1 human being was listed as dead and 17 firefighters were unaccounted for. More than 1,000 civilians ended up evacuated from the place.
“There was a extremely huge explosion yesterday all-around 8 p.m. and now at 5 a.m. a next explosion so large it lit up the place like the sunshine,” local resident Alfredo Gonzalez stated.
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Diaz-Canel visited the scene all around midnight, then returned to commit Saturday coordinating the reaction as condition-run tv broadcast are living coverage of the unfolding catastrophe.
Just before the next blast, Diaz-Canel posted on Twitter that initially responders had been “hoping to avert the distribute of the flames and any spill of gas” into the Matanzas bay.
Armed service helicopters ended up dumping seawater on nearby storage tanks as smoke reached Havana and people ended up warned to steer clear of acid rain.
Cuba has been suffering daily blackouts and gas shortages. The decline of gas and storage ability is possible to aggravate the problem which has led to little local protests in the very last couple of months.
Jorge Pinon, director of the University of Texas at Austin’s Latin America and Caribbean Energy and Natural environment Program, mentioned the spot experienced eight huge tanks each with a capacity of 300,000 barrels.
“The spot is a transshipment position for fuel to different thermo-electric powered crops, not just the just one nearby, so this could be quite negative news for the power grid,” he mentioned.
— Finishes —
A massive oil-fed hearth burned for a next day on Saturday close to Cuba’s supertanker port in Matanzas, as Mexico and Venezuela sent teams to enable combat the inferno and Cuba accepted a US provide of unspecified “technical advice”.
On Friday evening, lightning struck a single of eight storage tanks at the facility 60 miles east of Havana. Heat from the blaze reached a next tank on Saturday and the wind blew flames dangerously close to a third.
“We express deep gratitude to the governments of Mexico, Venezuela, Russia, Chile … which have promptly presented content assist in the deal with of this elaborate problem,” tweeted Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
“We also take pleasure in the supply of technological suggestions from the US,” he mentioned.
Cuban authorities claimed at the very least 121 people ended up wounded in the second blast, of which 36 remained hospitalized, five in important condition. 1 human being was listed as dead and 17 firefighters were unaccounted for. More than 1,000 civilians ended up evacuated from the place.
“There was a extremely huge explosion yesterday all-around 8 p.m. and now at 5 a.m. a next explosion so large it lit up the place like the sunshine,” local resident Alfredo Gonzalez stated.
ALSO Examine | Snickers maker apologises for ad suggesting Taiwan is a state
Diaz-Canel visited the scene all around midnight, then returned to commit Saturday coordinating the reaction as condition-run tv broadcast are living coverage of the unfolding catastrophe.
Just before the next blast, Diaz-Canel posted on Twitter that initially responders had been “hoping to avert the distribute of the flames and any spill of gas” into the Matanzas bay.
Armed service helicopters ended up dumping seawater on nearby storage tanks as smoke reached Havana and people ended up warned to steer clear of acid rain.
Cuba has been suffering daily blackouts and gas shortages. The decline of gas and storage ability is possible to aggravate the problem which has led to little local protests in the very last couple of months.
Jorge Pinon, director of the University of Texas at Austin’s Latin America and Caribbean Energy and Natural environment Program, mentioned the spot experienced eight huge tanks each with a capacity of 300,000 barrels.
“The spot is a transshipment position for fuel to different thermo-electric powered crops, not just the just one nearby, so this could be quite negative news for the power grid,” he mentioned.
— Finishes —