Dense smoke from a fire in Matanzas darkened Havana

Dense smoke from a fire in Matanzas darkened Havana
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Fecha de publicación: 
8 August 2022
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Havana, Aug 8 (Prensa Latina) An atypical image in Havana was captured by several city dwellers who were stunned as the dense smoke from the fatal fire in Matanzas darkened the capital's sky early this morning.

Cuba has been in suspense since last Friday when an electrical discharge hit the Matanzas Supertanker Base, east of this city, unprecedented in the country’s history, and today, with the solidarity of Mexico and Venezuela, tries to put out the flames.

From early morning, in the midst of the prevailing heat and the sun that usually exists during these days of August, the sky of the Cuban capital was dyed black and many went out with cameras in hand to capture the shocking moment.

The images showed a Havana boardwalk with a large black strip of the sky that was reflected in the waters. The Christ of Havana, statue photographed over and over again, was left almost in the dark in the middle of the morning, while in the distance, the sun could barely be seen.

It is the secondary effect of the dense almost coal-colored smoke from the tragic accident that keeps Matanzas and an entire nation in tension, whose images move and impress.

The day before, after 11:30 pm (local time), there was a strong explosion in the industrial zone of Matanzas as a result of the collapse of the second fuel tank at the Base, after burning for almost 40 hours.

The intensity of the light from the explosion, also visible in Havana, caused a huge mass of smoke that can still be seen from the Havana boardwalk and other places in the city.

“Everything got dark as if it were raining but it’s the smoke,” one of the city dwellers commented on the street, while others posted videos and snapshots from different parts of the capital on social networks.

The authorities have recommended the vulerable populatiob to use the face mask in open spaces where smoke concentration is observed and avoiding exposure to rain in this same area.

According to the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, the emissions of polluting gases derived from the fire at the supertanker base have not caused an increase in respiratory diseases.

Specialists specified weather conditions are favorable for the cloud of smoke to remain heading west over the northern sector of the provinces of Matanzas, Mayabeque and Havana.

Several personal protection measures have been adopted and today the population is asked to avoid exposure to rain, which in places may coincide with the passage of the cloud of smoke, can have dark colors as a result of the concentrations of particles precipitating.

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