Firefighters battle blaze at Cuban oil depot for second day in a row

Cuban firefighters were joined by a special team from Mexico and Venezuela on Sunday as they battled for a second day to control a blaze at a large oil depot in the western province of Matanzas.

The blaze started Friday night when lightning struck one storage tank during a thunderstorm and spread to a second tank early Saturday, sparking a series of explosions, officials said.

A body found at the scene has been identified as 60-year-old firefighter Juan Carlos Santana, authorities said on Sunday.

Officials had previously said 17 firefighters were missing while trying to put out the blaze, but no one knew if he was one of them.

A total of 122 people were treated for injuries, five of them in critical condition, officials said.

The facility’s eight huge oil storage tanks store the oil used to generate electricity.

Thick black smoke rose from the oil depot and traveled more than 62 miles west to Havana.

The Ministry of Science and Technology said on Sunday that the cloud contained toxic substances such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide.

On Saturday, the Cuban government turned to the petro-state for help, and later Saturday, professional fire brigades began arriving from Mexico and Venezuela with their equipment.

“Support (is) to prevent risks and also help to fight fires through water- and foam-based cooling,” Mexican Brigadier General Juan Bravo said on arrival. “We hope more support will come soon, such as chemical materials.”

Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cosio said late Saturday that the U.S. government had provided technical assistance. On his Twitter account, he said “the proposal is in the hands of the experts for proper coordination”.

A few minutes later, President Miguel Diaz-Canel thanked Mexico, Venezuela, Russia, Nicaragua, Argentina and Chile for their help.