Cuba still struggling with oil depot fire

HAVANA — Cubans awoke to massive blackouts Tuesday morning with 40 per cent of the country’s main fuel storage facility destroyed by what officials said was the worst fire in its history.

Reuters witnesses reported the raging flames that ravaged a four-tank segment of the Matanzas supertanker port since Friday had died down and the towering plumes of thick black smoke still streaming from the area appeared tinted gray.

Matanzas is Cuba’s largest port for receiving crude oil and fuel imports. Cuban heavy crude, as well as fuel oil and diesel stored in Matanzas, are mainly used to generate electricity on the island.

The Communist-run country, under heavy U.S. sanctions, is all but bankrupt. Frequent blackouts and shortages of gasoline and other commodities already had created a tense situation with scattered local protests following last summer’s historic unrest in July.

Lightning struck one fuel storage tank Friday evening. The fire spread to a second by Sunday and engulfed the four-tank area Monday.