Firefighters douse deadly blaze at major Cuban oil facility

A deadly fire that has burned through at least half of a large oil facility in western Cuba and threatened to worsen the island’s energy crisis is largely under control nearly five days later, authorities said.

According to an unidentified Cuban firefighter, the flames that consumed the fourth tank at the Matanzas facility of eight recently were nearly extinguished, although the third tank remained on fire and surrounded by smoke.

“We can’t go in right now,” he told government TV channel Cubavision.

The blaze killed at least one person, injured 128 and left 14 firefighters missing.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel discreetly celebrated the work of local firefighters and a special team dispatched from Mexico and Venezuela, who used boats, planes and helicopters to put out the blaze, which was seen billowing from the capital Havana.

“(Tuesday) is Victory Day, but we can’t be overconfident,” he tweeted on Wednesday.

It is also an unloading and transshipment center for imported crude oil, fuel oil and diesel.

The government did not provide a loss estimate or how much was lost overall in critical fuel supplies.

The first tank has a capacity of 50% and contains nearly 25,000 cubic meters of fuel.

The second tank is full.