Cuba Pays Tribute to Firefighters Who Lost Their Lives in Matanzas

Cuba pays tribute to those who died fighting the large-scale fire in the Industrial Zone of Matanzas.

Author: Prensa Latina(PL) | internet@granma.cu

August 19, 2022 11:08:29

Photo: Ariel Cecilio Lemus

Cuba pays tribute to those who died fighting the large-scale fire in the Industrial Zone of Matanzas.

In the Firefighters Museum of the city, the population will be able to express their respect and gratitude for the sacrifice of those who lost their lives in the attempt to quell the deflagration caused by a lightning that hit a fuel tank at the Supertanker Base on August 5th.

Starting at 6:00 p.m., the funeral procession will move to the Pantheon of the Fallen for Defense, in the necropolis of Matanzas, where the burial ceremony will take place.

Intense search efforts allowed Cuban experts to find human remains corresponding to the 14 persons reported missing after the incident, but the high temperatures and the time of exposure to the flames made it impossible to fully identify said remains.

This is the list of the group of people listed as missing: Privates Adriano Rodríguez, Fabián Naranjo and Leo Alejandro Doval, and the first non-commissioned officer Dios del Nazco, all from Matanzas; Private Michel Rodríguez and Captain Areskys Quintero, both from Mayabeque, and First Lieutenant Andy Mitchel Ramos, from Havana. Luis Ángel Álvarez and Pablo Ángel López, from Matanzas; Osmany Blasco and Rolando Oviedo, from Mayabeque; and Raciel Alonso Martínez, Luis Raúl Aguilar and Osley Marante, from Havana, are also among the missing.

The first water tank operator Juan Carlos Santana Garrido, from the Camilo Cienfuegos Oil Refinery Fire Department, and officer Elier Manuel Correa Aguilar, professional fire engine captain at the Matanzas Airport Command, complete the list.

The president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, decreed two days of official mourning, starting at 6:00 a.m. this Wednesday, in tribute to the victims of the greatest catastrophe of its kind that occurred in the country.