The fire was put out Sunday in one of the fuel-burning tanks in the industrial zone of Matanzas, local authorities announced.
Matanzas, Cuba.- It was in that storage tank where lightning struck on the afternoon of August 5 and triggered a large fire that reached another tank. Firefighters and other units from Cuba, Mexico, and Venezuela are working to bring it under control.
Cooling actions are concentrated there to prevent the fire from spreading to the rest of the fuel tanks that make up one of the batteries of the Supertanker Base located in Matanzas Bay.
In that base, fuel evacuation using fuel tanks and a tanker that docked this morning in Matanzas bay continues.
President Miguel Dïaz-Canel is leading the efforts to contain the fire, which has raised a huge cloud of smoke and flames since Friday.
A hundred people were injured, although most have already been released from the hospital.
A member of the province of Cienfuegos fire department, who lost his life during the difficult situation, was buried on Sunday.
Sixteen people are still missing, mostly firefighters.
MORE AID FROM MEXICO AND VENEZUELA ARRIVES IN CUBA
Mexico and Venezuela sent further assistance to Cuba in response to the catastrophe caused by the large-scale fire affecting the Supertanker Base in the western city of Matanzas.
According to a Cuban television report, a Mexican Air Force plane brought humanitarian cargo for the population of that city.
This is the fifth flight since Saturday from that country. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was among the first to respond to the Cuban request for international cooperation to face the difficult situation.
Experts from Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), firefighters, equipment, and supplies are already deployed in the disaster area, joining local and Venezuelan forces trying to quell the fire in one of the tank batteries of the main fuel distribution terminal of the Caribbean island.
An aircraft of the Venezuelan airline Conviasa also landed at the Juan Gualberto Gómez International Airport, in the Varadero resort and adjacent to this city.
This is the second flight with aid sent by the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Experts, 14 tons of foam, and five tons of chemical products used to control this type of fire were added to the important Venezuelan contribution.
Cubans, Mexicans, and Venezuelans are working together in the fire area after reaching a consensus on how to deal with the incident.
On Sunday morning, President Miguel Díaz-Canel greeted and exchanged with the representatives of the Mexican and Venezuelan cooperation, whose governments he thanked for their quick contribution. (RHC)
