Air rescue in Baracoa: Helicopter transports critically ill child after Hurricane Oscar

Baracoa witnessed a rescue operation this Tuesday that required air transportation for the transfer of a minor in critical condition to a hospital outside the area.

"An airlift was carried out for a child reported in serious condition with a life-threatening situation from Baracoa," reported the official media Primada Visión on its social media, in a post where it shared images of the rescue but did not provide further details about what happened.

Practically cut off from land communication, with the La Farola viaduct connecting it to Guantánamo destroyed, Baracoa is experiencing an emergency situation following Hurricane Oscar, which caused devastation in the area amidst the critical scenario triggered by the total collapse of the national electric power system that occurred last Friday, and which still leaves hundreds of thousands of Cubans without electricity supply.

A helicopter from the Revolutionary Air Force and a newly acquired ambulance participated in the rescue operation that transported the minor to a hospital.

The official Cuban press did not specify the medical reasons that led to the child's transfer, of which neither his identity nor his age was revealed. It was also not clarified which hospital he was transferred to, nor the assessment made by the doctors regarding the case.

The passage of Hurricane Oscar through Guantánamo has left a toll of destruction and death that will mark the province for a long time. Although the cyclone is already moving away from Cuba, the recovery work is just beginning.

This Tuesday, Cuban authorities identified the six people who lost their lives in the municipality of San Antonio del Sur during Oscar's passage through the province of Guantánamo.

Among the deceased are three elderly people, over 80 years old, and a five-year-old girl. The other two fatalities were between the ages of 30 and 40.

This Monday, the Cuban government reported that there are, preliminarily, more than a thousand homes with damage in several municipalities of the province of Guantánamo.

“The greatest impacts are in the province of Guantánamo, especially in Baracoa, Imías, and Maisí, with major flooding,” reported the Presidency of Cuba on social media, after releasing details of a review meeting attended by leader Miguel Díaz-Canel.