More than 70 injured and 17 firefighters missing in oil storage fire in Cuba

At least 77 people have been injured in a fire at an oil storage facility in the Cuban port city of Matanzas. Seventeen firefighters are missing, Cuban authorities said. Extinction work is still in progress.

The fire started last night local time when a crude oil tank was struck by lightning. The lightning strike was followed by several explosions.

Images show thick plumes of black smoke above the oil tank. In Matanzas, a city 100 kilometers west of the capital Havana, people living near the oil storage facility have been evacuated, the Cuban president’s office reported. It is not yet known if anyone was killed in the fire.

Images of the fire and a nearby hospital, where many injured:

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermúdez wrote on Twitter that the missing firefighters must be found urgently. He traveled to Matanzas, where he visited the victims of the fire.

The Cuban government called on the international community to help fight the fire.

The burning of oil tanks threatens to further aggravate Cuba’s energy crisis. Cubans have long suffered power outages due to fuel shortages and aging power plants.