At least one person was killed and 121 injured after a lightning strike on Friday sparked a huge fire at a crude oil storage warehouse in Matanzas, Cuba.
"A body has been recovered at the site of the accident," Luis Armando Wong, health director in the western Matanzas province, told media at a press conference on Saturday.
According to reports, some 1,900 people have been evacuated from the affected area. However, 17 firefighters are missing.
A helicopter throws water over fuel storage tanks that exploded at a warehouse near Cuba's supertanker port in Matanzas, Cuba, August 6, 2022. /Reuters
A tank burst into flames after it was struck by lightning at 7:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Friday, local media reported. Heat from the blaze reached a second tank on Saturday, and the wind blew flames dangerously close to a third, reported Reuters.
The official newspaper, Granma, attributed the fire to an "electric discharge" that struck the depot on the outskirts of the city of Matanzas, 100 kilometers east of Havana.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited the scene.