Cuba: the fire of an oil depot still out of control

Flames rise from the Matanzas oil depot, August 6, 2022. AP - Ramon Espinosa

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A third tank collapsed in an oil depot, ravaged by a gigantic fire since Friday August 5.

In the industrial area of ​​Matanzas, 100 km from the capital Havana.

Provisional assessment: at least one dead, 16 firefighters missing, and more than 120 injured.

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A huge cloud of black smoke with red highlights still rose Monday evening above Matanzas.

The fire was caused by lightning, which struck a first tank on Friday evening, despite the lightning rod system of this large oil depot.

The Cuban government received help from Mexico and Venezuela in an attempt to put out the fire.

On Sunday, President Miguel Diaz Canel traveled to Matanzas to oversee firefighter operations, the official Cuban press reported. 

The massive blaze comes as the island has run out of fuel for months, and doesn't have enough oil to fuel its aging power plants.

 We will have to continue to buy

 ” fuel, “ 

with our limited means 

”, “

 to guarantee a minimum of energy production 

”, specifies the governor of the region, Mario Sabines, this Monday. 

The repeated power cuts in Cuba have provoked demonstrations again this weekend in the city of Cienfuegos, and in several municipalities of the country since the beginning of the summer.

Last year, it was already one of the reasons for the greatest movement of social anger on the island since the 1959 revolution.

To read: 

Cuba: one dead in the violent fire at the fuel depot in Matanzas

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