1
5
VIA CBC.ca:
A third crude tank caught fire and collapsed at Cuba's main oil terminal in Matanzas, the province's governor said on Monday, as an oil spill spread flames from a second tank that caught fire two days earlier in the island's biggest oil industry accident in decades.
Huge columns of fire rose into the sky and thick black smoke bellowed all day, darkening the sky as far away as Havana. Explosions rocked the area just before midnight as one tank collapsed and again at noon as another imploded.
At least one person has died and 125 are injured, with another 14 reported missing ever since lighting struck one of the facility's eight tanks on Friday night. A second tank caught fire on Saturday, triggering several explosions at the facility, which plays a key part in Cuba's electric system.
Cuba had made progress fighting off the raging flames during the weekend after drawing on help from Mexico and Venezuela, but late on Sunday the fire began spreading from the second tank, which collapsed, said Mario Sabines, governor of the Matanzas province, about 130 km from Havana.