It was unknown how much fuel had been lost to the flames.Ĭuba's government had appealed for help Saturday from oil nations, and specialized firefighting teams began arriving with their equipment from Mexico and Venezuela late Saturday. The disaster comes as Cuba struggles with a severe economic and energy crisis, with frequent power blackouts hitting during a torrid summer. The Ministry of Science and Technology said Sunday that the cloud contained sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and other toxic substances. The facility's eight huge storage tanks hold oil used to fuel electricity generation.ĭense black smoke billowed up from the tank farm and spread westward more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) to Havana. The governor said 4,946 people had been evacuated, mostly from the Dubrocq neighborhood, which is next to the Matanzas Supertanker Base in Matanzas city. Officials previously said a group of 17 firefighters had gone missing while trying to quell flames, but there was no word if he was one of those.Ĭonditions were still too dangerous to mount a search for the missing firefighters, officials said.Ī total of 122 people were treated for injuries, including five whom officials said were in critical condition. Most of the fuel held in the tank where the fire initially started was believed to have been consumed, officials said.Īuthorities said a body found at the site Saturday had been identified as firefighter Juan Carlos Santana, 60. “The mission of the day is to keep the third tank cold,” in hopes of preventing the flames from spreading into more of the site, provincial Gov. The blaze began Friday night when lightning struck a storage tank during a thunderstorm, and the fire spread to a second tank early Saturday, triggering a series of explosions, officials have said. Cuban firefighters were joined by special teams sent by Mexico and Venezuela Sunday as they battled for a second day to control a fire blazing at a big oil tank farm in the western province of Matanzas.

Tank battle in the big keep