Firefighters battle big blaze at Cuba oil tank farm

In Cuba, firefighters continued to battle to control a fire blazing at a big oil tank farm in the western province of Matanzas. The Mexico and Venezuela were also sent special teams to control the fire. According to Cuban officials, the blaze began on Friday night when lightning struck a storage tank during a thunderstorm and the fire spread to a second tank early Saturday. Most of the fuel held in the tank where the fire initially started was believed to have been consumed, officials further said. Authorities told that a body found at the site Saturday had been identified as a firefighter.
Earlier, the officials said that a group of 17 firefighters had gone missing while trying to quell flames. A total of 122 people were treated for injuries, including five whom were in critical condition. The Governor said, 4,946 people had been evacuated, mostly from the Dubrocq neighborhood, which is next to the Matanzas Supertanker Base in Matanzas city. The facility's eight huge storage tanks hold oil used to fuel electricity generation. The disaster comes as Cuba struggles with a severe economic and energy crisis, with frequent power blackouts hitting during a torrid summer. It was unknown how much fuel had been lost to the flames.