Dozens injured as lightning sets off fire at Cuban oil storage tank
6 August 2022,
Faustino Perez Hospital reported it was treating 49 people, two of them with critical injuries.
Lightning has struck an oil storage tank in the city of Matanzas in Cuba, causing a fire that led to four explosions which injured more than 50 people, authorities said.
Firefighters and other specialists were still trying to quell the blaze at the Matanzas Supertanker Base, which began during a thunderstorm on Friday night, the Ministry of Energy and Mines tweeted.
The official Cuban News Agency said the lightning strike set one tank on fire and the blaze later spread to a second tank.
The accident comes as Cuba struggles with fuel shortages. There was no immediate word on how much oil had burned or was in danger at the tank farm, which stores oil used to fuel electricity production.
Officials at Faustino Perez Hospital reported 52 injured, according to the provincial government’s Facebook page.
The hospital’s director, Dr Taymi Martinez, said one person was in an extremely critical condition, three patients were in a critical condition and 10 in a serious conditions.
“I was in the gym when I felt the first explosion. A column of smoke and terrible fire rose through the skies,” said resident Adiel Gonzalez.
Authorities said the Dubrocq neighbourhood closest to the fire was evacuated, while Mr Gonzalez added that some people decided to leave the Versailles district, which is a little further from the tank farm.
There were many ambulances, police and fire engines, he said.
Matanzas, which has about 140,000 inhabitants, is 62 miles from Havana, on Matnzas Bay.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel travelled to the area of the fire on Saturday, officials said.
A fire set off by a lightning strike at an oil storage facility has raged uncontrolled in the Cuban city of Matanzas, where four explosions and flames injured nearly 80 people and left 17 firefighters missing.
Firefighters and other specialists were still trying to quell the blaze at the Matanzas Supertanker Base on Saturday, where the fire began during a thunderstorm on Friday night, the Ministry of Energy and Mines tweeted.
The government said later that it had asked for help from international experts in “friendly countries” with experience in the oil sector.
The official Cuban News Agency said lightning hit one tank, starting a fire, and the blaze later spread to a second tank.
As military helicopters flew overhead dropping water on the blaze, dense column of black smoke billowed from the facility and spread westward more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) toward Havana.
The Facebook page of the provincial government of Matanzas said the number of injured had reached 77, while 17 people were missing.
The Presidency of the Republic said the 17 were “firefighters who were in the nearest area trying to prevent the spread.”
'Smell of sulphur'
The accident comes as Cuba struggles with fuel shortages.
There was no immediate word on how much oil had burned or was in danger at the storage facility, which has eight giant tanks that hold oil used to fuel electricity generating plants.
“I was in the gym when I felt the first explosion. A column of smoke and terrible fire rose through the skies,” resident Adiel Gonzalez said. “The city has a strong smell of sulphur.”
Authorities said the Dubrocq neighbourhood closest to the fire was evacuated, while Gonzalez added that some people decided to leave the Versailles district, which is a little farther from the tank farm.
Many ambulances, police and fire engines were seen in the streets of Matanzas, a city with about 140,000 inhabitants that is on Matnzas Bay.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel traveled to the area of the fire early on Saturday, officials said.
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.
“That plume can be close to 150 kilometres long,” Pila wrote on his Twitter account.
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