The fire that broke out in an oil depot in Cuba was still out of control on Monday August 8. Authorities said the fire destroyed a third tank and threatened a fourth. A Cuban fire department official clarified that “the four reservoirs” 50 million liters each “have been compromised”. “It was a chain reaction”did he declare.
The disaster began Friday evening, August 5, when lightning struck one of the eight reservoirs of the depot located in Matanzas, 100 kilometers east of Havana. This reservoir contained 26,000 cubic meters of crude oil, or about 50% of its maximum capacity. Consumed by fire, the cylindrical structure exploded on Saturday morning, spreading the flames to a second tank containing 52,000 cubic meters of fuel oil.
The situation is “very complex” with a fire zone “tall enough”, which now extends to four reservoirs, specified the governor of Matanzas. A firefighter was killed and 14 people are missing. Some 22 people are still hospitalized, five of them in critical condition. Several countries on the American continent, including Mexico and Venezuela, have offered their help to Cuba to fight this fire.
