Fire breaks out at Cuban fuel storage port; Mexico, Venezuela sending help
India Today
Officials are trying to fight a fire that broke out near Cuba's supertanker port in Matanzas with Mexico and Venezuela sending teams to help them.
A massive oil-fed fire burned for a second day on Saturday near Cuba's supertanker port in Matanzas, as Mexico and Venezuela sent teams to help fight the inferno and Cuba accepted a US offer of unspecified "technical advice".
On Friday evening, lightning struck one of eight storage tanks at the facility 60 miles east of Havana. Heat from the blaze reached a second tank on Saturday and the wind blew flames dangerously close to a third.
"We express deep gratitude to the governments of Mexico, Venezuela, Russia, Chile ... which have promptly offered material aid in the face of this complex situation," tweeted Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
"We also appreciate the offer of technical advice from the US," he said.
Cuban authorities said at least 121 people were injured in the second blast, of which 36 remained hospitalized, five in critical condition. One person was listed as dead and 17 firefighters were unaccounted for. More than 1,000 civilians were evacuated from the area.
"There was a very big explosion yesterday around 8 p.m. and today at 5 a.m. a second explosion so big it lit up the area like the sun," local resident Alfredo Gonzalez said.
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