The disaster began on Friday evening when lightning struck one of the eight reservoirs at the depot, 100 km east of Havana. Since then, it has spread despite the intervention of the fire department.
A real chain reaction. The fire that broke out on Friday, August 5 at the oil depot in Matanzas, Cuba, is still out of control, the country’s authorities said on Monday, August 8. Devoured by fire, the cylindrical structure of the first tank exploded early Saturday morning and spread the flames to a second tank containing 52,000m3 of fuel oil. Despite the use of firefighters on cranes and helicopters, this second tank in turn ripped off after an explosion at midnight on Sunday, forcing an emergency evacuation. The fire then spread to two other tanks containing crude oil.
The situation in the oil field, a hundred kilometers from Havana, with a “rather large” fire zone, is “very complex,” assured Matanzas governor Mario Sabines in a video posted on Twitter. The governor also said rescue teams from Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela were “positioned” to distribute firefighting foam (chemical foam used to extinguish fires), which “may take some time.”
According to a recent report, one firefighter died and the number of missing was reduced to 14 from 16, while 22 people remain hospitalized, including five in critical condition.