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The Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant in Matanzas, commemorated this Wednesday the third anniversary of the accident that on April 7, 2023 claimed the lives of two workers and left two others injured inside the plant's 110-meter chimney.
On that day, four workers from the Empresa de Construcción y Montaje Especializado (ECME) of the Ministry of Construction were buried after the collapse of a chimney column while removing soot and vanadium deposits from inside the structure.
The authorities explained that the collapse occurred due to the accumulated pressure of soot in a toxic environment.
Two of the workers were rescued alive in the early hours: Ángel Dionis Pérez Montoya, aged thirty, with simple cranial trauma and dislocation of the right shoulder and radius, and Maikel López Navarro, with a pelvic fracture.
Both were treated at the Faustino Pérez Hospital in Matanzas. A third worker involved in the rescue efforts sustained eye injuries caused by soot.
The lifeless body of Alexis Bernardo Labrada Junco, 47 years old, originally from Granma and residing in Matanzas, was recovered on Friday, April 7, at 7:19 PM and examined by forensic experts from Faustino Pérez Hospital for the necessary certification.
The next day, after additional hours of anguish, the body of the second deceased, Lázaro Frank Montero Pita, 57 years old, was found, concluding the rescue efforts with a final toll of two dead and three injured.
Rescue efforts lasted approximately 48 hours and involved firefighters and rescuers, many of whom were veterans of the August 2022 Supertankers Base fire in Matanzas.
The operations were closely monitored in real-time by the Cuban population. Authorities noted that it had been 17 years since a fatal accident was reported at the CTE Antonio Guiteras, the largest power generating plant in Cuba.
On the occasion of the first anniversary in April 2024, the plant held a tribute event where executives unveiled a pedestal of ceramic tiles with photographs of the victims and presented their families with a printed snapshot of each one. About twenty family members and workers attended, and images of the rescue efforts were shown.
On the third anniversary, the official journalist José Miguel Solís shared a remembrance on social media in which he paid tribute to the victims.
The commemoration coincides with a new blackout caused by the shutdown of Guiteras itself last Monday, when a puncture in the boiler took the plant out of operation and exacerbated the electrical deficits across the country, which have reached up to 1,845 MW.
The CTE Antonio Guiteras contributes between 20% and 25% of Cuba's thermal generation, and its frequent breakdowns due to structural deterioration and a lack of spare parts are a key factor in the chronic electricity crisis the island is experiencing. Brigades from ECME and plant technicians are working against the clock to restore generation.
"Today is a day of remembrance and tribute. As a continuation of the sacrifice, brigades from the ECME and technicians from Guiteras have only 72 hours to, in a bold challenge against obsolescence, bring the unit back online by next Friday, for Alexis, Lázaro, and others who have died in the effort to overcome impossibilities and bring forth the light," wrote journalist José Miguel Solís.
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