The fire of great magnitude unleashed on Friday night at the Supertanker Base of Matanzas and that It continued with force during the early morning as it spread and already affected three tanks, causing at least fifty injuries, who are being treated at the Faustino Pérez Provincial Hospital.
Follow what is happening in this DIARIO DE CUBA space.
evacuation of neighbors
In the midst of concern, the noise of the sirens and at dawn, the Dubrocq neighborhood, close to the affected area in Matanzas, is evacuated, according to official media reports.
The journalist Carlos Manuel Bernal, quoted by TV Yumurí, reported from the Faustino Pérez Hospital a total, so far, of 49 injured, nine seriously and one critically life-threatening.
#TVYumurí ???? Seven serious patients and one in critical condition at the Faustino Pérez Hospital are #Matanzas, according to the provincial director of Health, Dr. Luis Wong. There are other patients with minor injuries.
Posted by TV Yumuri on Saturday, August 6, 2022
“There are more than 100 people in the guard room right now. They are pouring ointments on people,” a person present at the hospital told DIARIO DE CUBA. The Minister of Energy and Mines, Liván Arronte, would have been treated by the SIUM, according to a nurse who did not identify himself. The official would have suffered poisoning from inhaling the smoke.
Journalists Lyl Jiménez and Melissa Blanco along with cameraman Rigoberto León, all from TV Yumurí, are among the people who received some burns when one of the tanks caught fire.
Great police deployment
“The Faustino Guard Corps is militarized. You cannot enter or leave,” said the same person, who made reference to a large number of deployed police officers.
According to information from TV Yumurí, Miguel Díaz-Canel arrived at the hospital emergency room.
Journalist Arnaldo Mirabal Hernández, for his part, He reported from his Facebook profile a “fourth explosion” in the early hours of this Saturday at the industrial site.
⚠️#Last minute ‼️
A fourth explosion occurs????, there is no accurate information about the magnitude of the sinister, but it will undoubtedly be one of the saddest accidents.
✒️ @Nardycubano @PeriodicoGiron #Massacres #GobMtz pic.twitter.com/uQ2ZBDu2op— Provincial Government of Popular Power in Matanzas (@gpppmatanzas) August 6, 2022
“A fourth explosion occurs, there is no accurate information about the magnitude of the incident, but it will undoubtedly be one of the saddest accidents,” the Provincial Government of Matanzas admitted on Twitter.
Around 7:00 p.m. this Friday, due to a storm, lightning struck the 52 crude oil storage tank of the aforementioned base, causing a fireconfirmed on its Twitter account the Ministry of Energy and Mines.
On its Facebook page, the local television station specified that firefighters and workers from the Territorial Division of the state CUPET are working to put out the flames.
According to a report by the official Cuban News Agency (ACN), the national crude oil tank impacted by the electrical discharge was at 50% of its capacity of filling, which is 50,000 cubic meters. There is no information on how much the other deposits reached by the flames housed.
The Supertanker Base —which has eight tanks— has a lightning rod system but apparently the discharge was higher than what it could protect, explained Rigel Rodríguez Cubells, director of the Territorial Division of Marketing of Fuels Matanzas.
Firefighters from Mayabeque and Havana support the work carried out to control the fire. A regular flow of water is guaranteed with means from the province, said the Governor of Matanzas, Mario Sabines Lorenzo.
Journalist Eliane Táboas reported from the scene that the discharge caused the lid of the tank to shoot several meters away.
TV Yumurí published about the action plan to mitigate the damage, announced in a meeting by Ramón Espinosa Martín, General of the Army Corps of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR).
“Filling of the pool adjacent to the affected fuel tank to avoid fires in other areas”, although the air and poor lighting affect the work. According to calculations by specialists, in the morning hours of this Saturday they await the control of the incident if conditions allow it.
“More specialized bodies from the Cuban capital arrived in the industrial area of the city of Matanzas,” the report added.
Fire in #Cuba: The Faustino Pérez Hospital in #Matanzas receives at least 50 injured with burns, some of…
Posted by DIARIO DE CUBA on Saturday, August 6, 2022