Flames e🌠ngulfed a fourth taꦉnk at an oil storage facility in western Cuba on Tuesday as the raging fire consumes critical fuel supplies on an island grappling with a growing energy crisis.
Firef🐓ighters and specialists from Mexico and Venezuela helped fight the blaze in the province of Matanzas with boats, planes and helicopters as they sprayed foam on the containers, a first for crews since broiling temperatures had prevented them from doing so earlier.
Cuban President Miguel D๊íaz-Canel said crews have taken control of the♐ area where the fire is burning and are taking further steps to quell it.
“They are not 🔯easy tasks,” he said. “It is an intense and complex incident.”
The firꦚe at the Matanzas Supertanker Base has killed at least one person and injured 125 other♋s, with another 14 firefighters still missing.
It also forced officials to evacuate more than 4,900 people and sh🌌ut down a key thermoelectric plant on Monday after it ran out of water, sparking concerns about additional blackouts.
Those injured were treated mostlyﷺ for burns and smoke i♕nhalation. More than 20 remain hospitalised, with five of them in critical condition.
“This situation has us very worried at the moment because 🌊there are problems wit✤h electricity, with the environment, with the people who are still living here,” said Adneris Díaz a 22-year-old cafe owner.
The eight♏-tank facility plays a crucial role in Cuba's electric system: it op𒆙erates an extensive oil pipeline that receives Cuban crude oil that is then ferried to thermoelectric plants that produce electricity.
It also serves as the unloading and transshipment cente💙r for imported crude oil, fuel oil and diesel.
The facil💧ity caught on fire late Friday after ligh𒀰tning struck one of its tanks, sparking several explosions as it spread over the weekend.
The first tank was at 50% capacity 💟and contained nearly 883,000 cubic feet🍷 of fuel.
The second tank was full.
Officials have yet to p🅷rovide an estimate of dama🍰ges.
The blaze comes just days after the government anno♏unced scheduled blackouts for the capital of Havana amid a sweltering summer.
“The economic effects are clear," said Tahimi Sánchez,𝐆 a 48-year-old cafe owner.
"They are there, we will notice 𒊎them and we will see them, but we are confident, and we are going to come out of all this well.”
