Matanzas, Cuba, Aug 9 (Prensa Latina) The fourth day of fighting the fire at the Super Tanker Base in this provincial capital began today with the return of the helicopters that dumped water in the area of the incident.
They are Air Force aircraft that hang a kind of basket with 2,500 liters of water collected in Matanzas Bay, where the largest fuel storage and transfer facility on the Caribbean island is located.
From the disaster zone, where three tanks have collapsed due to the flames, the column of smoke raises today grayer and less black than the day before. Dromedary-type aircraft also participated in the air operations.
The wind blows less quickly, which could help the operations of Cuban, Mexican, and Venezuelan firefighters and experts united to try to put out this large-scale fire.
According to what Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Ávalo, second chief of the Fire Department, said the day before, the high temperatures, the smoke, the low visibility and the force of the wind have prevented the bombing with foam and other chemical products of what they call the hot zone here.
Meanwhile, monitoring of air quality in the area is maintained and the authorities urge preventive actions to be taken in the face of this contingency, unprecedented due to its proportions in Cuba.
Health authorities indicated that there are no reported effects on the population due to the cloud of smoke that persists and extends to the west.
The incident that began on Friday, August 5, caused the death of a firefighter, there are 14 missing and more than a hundred injured were treated in hospitals in Matanzas and Havana, most of them already discharged.
"An Island on a Continent" 