The people of Matanzas paid tribute this Monday to the victims of the fire at the Supertankers Base on the second anniversary of the tragedy, which claimed the lives of 17 people, many of them young.
For the second consecutive year, the event took place in front of the Firefighters Museum "Cuartel Enrique Estrada" and was attended by some family members of the victims.
A total of 17 bells sounded along with the sirens of the fire trucks and the notes of the national anthem before the reading of the list of the deceased, whose photos were displayed at the entrance of the venue.
"Today we reaffirm the oath made a year ago in this very place to never relent in our effort to be more professional, to be increasingly prepared for any contingency, and to never let down the people to whom we are committed," expressed José Antonio Esnard Viciedo, Rescue Technician.
In addition to relatives of the victims, the event was attended by Major General Víctor Rojo Ramos, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) and head of the Political Directorate of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR); and Major General Ricardo Riger Tejeda, head of the Central Army.
Mario Sabines Lorenzo, the first secretary of the PCC in Matanzas; Lázaro Suárez Navarro, vice governor of the province; as well as other political and governmental leaders, also attended, according to local press reports.
As part of the tribute, the book "Entre fuegos. Bomberos de Matanzas," published by Editorial Capitán San Luis, was presented, and the exhibition "Con la sal a cuesta," by photographer Ernesto Cruz, was inaugurated.
In addition to the event in front of the Fire Museum, a floral tribute was placed at the Pantheon to the Fallen in Defense, at the San Carlos Borromeo cemetery, according to local press reports.
"For them, our deep tribute," wrote Prime Minister Manuel Marrero on X, while Miguel Díaz-Canel overlooked the date.
Last Friday, the Airport Fire Command 3 at Juan Gualberto Gómez International Airport had already paid tribute to the deceased.
The tragedy
The fire at the Supertankers Base, where the crude oil of the largest refinery in the Bay of Matanzas is stored, originated - according to official versions - after a lightning strike on a fuel tank that held 40,000 gallons of fuel.
In the early morning of the next day, while a group of firefighters and support staff were trying to cool a tank near the site of the accident, a sudden change in wind direction caused it to ignite, resulting in the deaths of those nearby.
The fatalities were Adriano Rodríguez Gutiérrez, Andy Mitchel Ramos Sotolongo, Areskys Quintero Orta, Diosdel Nazco Vargas, Fabián Naranjo Núñez, Leo Alejandro Doval Pérez de Prado, Luis Ángel Álvarez Leyva, Luis Raúl Aguilar Zamora, Michel Rodríguez Román, Osley Marante Guerra, Osmani Blasco Sosa, Pablo Ángel López Martell, Raciel Alonso Martínez, and Rolando Oviedo Sosa.
The flames ravaged four crude oil storage facilities and left, in addition to the 17 deceased, over a hundred injured. The material losses were estimated at 66 million dollars.
Four of the deceased were recruits of the Military Service and were between 19 and 24 years old.
Several relatives of the victims questioned whether those young people had been sent to the red zone without sufficient experience.
"Who is going to take responsibility for taking those children there?" questioned the grandmother of the youngest firefighter, recruit Leo Alejandro Doval Pérez de Prado, who at the time of the tragedy was only 19 years old and had received just 15 days of training to become a firefighter.
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