Havana 11 August : Firefighters and specialists from Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela are making progress in fighting the blaze at the fuel storage facility in Matanzas province according to reports from the local authorities.The fire was started by lightning strikes on a tank which contained 26,000 cubic meters of Cuban oil on the 5th of August.
The fire it later ravaged three nearby tanks, killing one 14 missing and 125 hurt.
A variety of Cuban Army aircraft continued to sprinkle water over the area as the Mexican Navy helicopter made a reconnaissance flight early on Wednesday to assess the severity of the damages, Xinhua news agency reported.
Two Mexican ships unleashed massive streams of seawater out of Matanzas Bay to extinguish some pockets of flames and cool the area while an Venezuelan hydraulic pump pumped water with chemical foam to accomplish the same goal.
Firefighters are making progress in controlling areas that are still burning and are defending the remaining fuel tanks, which are located around 150m from the site The blaze was limited to the area that was initially.
According to the authorities who outlined the next phase of operations the fires will be smothered with five water pumps which will include department of fire from different Cuban provinces, as well as Venezuelan as well as Mexican brigades.
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