Cuba: Damage Assessment and Search for Missing After Fire

Cuban authorities have begun the evaluation of the damage caused by the fire that affected this city in western Cuba, as well as the search for those missing in the incident.

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Matanzas Fire is Being Extinguished but Danger Remains

After Friday's extinction of the deflagration at the Supertanker Base in Matanzas Bay, the work began involving experts from Forensic Medicine and Criminalistics, forensic anthropologists, Civil Defense rescuers, and combatants from the Ministry of the Interior and the Revolutionary Armed Forces, among other agencies.

Local and national authorities and various State institutions are participating in the cleaning of the affected area to determine the damage, with the purpose of coordinating short, medium and long term recovery strategies.

The flames, which destroyed four of the eight hydrocarbon storage tanks at the facility, left at least two dead, more than a hundred injured, and 14 people missing.

A few hours after the incident was declared, on August 5, the city of Matanzas received the solidarity of the entire country, as well as that of several nations, institutions and international organizations.

Especially valuable was the immediate response of the governments of Venezuela and Mexico, which sent equipment, supplies, firefighting products and 127 experts who joined the Cuban forces in the firefighting efforts.

From the first moments, President Miguel Díaz-Canel was at the scene, where he headed the temporary working group set up to coordinate the fighting actions, as well as visiting the injured and the families of the missing.