Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, highlighted the work of firefighters, rescuers and personnel facing the large-scale fire in the industrial zone of this city, in conditions of high danger.
In a meeting with the press, after receiving the representatives of the delegations of Mexico and Venezuela who arrived at dawn with decisive help to quell the incident, the president said that there are still strong days, since last Friday they have been working fundamentally on extinguishing the fire and prevent it from spreading to the rest of the tanks, evacuate fuel to avoid losing it and create the conditions to go out in search of the missing persons.
The Cuban President reported that the recovery is being prepared and said that experiences must be drawn from this accident to update the plans to deal with this type of event, which is atypical in Cuba.
He highlighted the solidarity of Mexico and Venezuela and the way in which it is produced, since it starts from a feeling of humanism, understanding and disposition, and that response has a lot to do with the behavior that Cuba has always followed, he indicated.
#LAST MINUTE ????
President @DiazCanelB exchanges with the heads of the delegations of #Mexico Y #Venezuela who in the last hours arrived at #Cuba to help quell the incident at the Supertanker Base of #Massacreswhom he thanked for their immediate solidarity. pic.twitter.com/625S5eLwXc
— Cuba Presidency ???????? (@PresidenciaCuba) August 7, 2022
Díaz-Canel insisted that there is no possible speculation as to the cause of the fire, it was a lightning strike and it did have a lightning rod system, and the magnitude of the electrical discharge is being investigated.
We are going to overcome this adversity, and it is already being done, we will always go for more, we will never stop in adversity, he assured.
There is heroism and stoicity in those who are there in the industrial zone, the attitude and solidarity of the Cuban people in the midst of the current energy situation is also remarkable, he spoke of the thousands of messages, of the people who came with donations for those who are working tough against flames.
There was an international response, several governments, institutions and people in the world offered their support, and that is due to what the Cuban Revolution always cultivates: feeling, solidarity and love, he said.
The president of Cuba, accompanied by Manuel Marrero Cruz, prime minister, Roberto Morales Ojeda, secretary of organization of the Party’s Central Committee, Susely Morfa González, first secretary of the party body in Matanzas, met behind closed doors with the representatives of Mexico and Venezuela to define strategies in confronting the incident.
Díaz-Canel held a meeting with the relatives of the people who disappeared in the incident, and assured that everything possible will be done for the rescue.
Last Friday around seven at night, lightning struck one of the fuel storage tanks at the supertanker base, in the Matanzas industrial zone, until now the death of a man is lamented, and there are still missing persons in the place of the event, where the fire is still not controlled.