A six-second video showing a thick cloud of smoke and the contents of a suitcase scattered on the floor at Miami Airport has gone viral in recent hours.
Among the first media outlets to report on the images was Cubanos por el Mundo, which published them with the message: "Moment when a passenger's Eco Flow explodes at Miami International Airport while traveling to Cuba."
However, the journalist from Univision, Javier Díaz, clarified what happened.
"The images began to circulate on July 14 on social media, but the explosion occurred several days earlier. The video is shocking due to the danger it poses," Díaz explained in a report shared on social media.
The Miami International Airport issued an official statement with the exact details of the incident:
"On July 9, shortly before 3:00 AM, a small fire broke out at one of the check-in counters in the Central Terminal because a lithium battery caught fire inside a passenger's luggage." According to airport authorities, the situation was quickly controlled: an assistant from the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office extinguished the fire with a fire extinguisher, and no injuries or flight cancellations were reported.
The luggage belonged to a passenger heading to Cuba.
Social media posts indicated that the device involved was an EcoFlow, a portable power station with a lithium battery that has become essential for thousands of Cuban families facing daily blackouts of more than twenty hours.
However, the airport statement cited by Javier Díaz does not specify it.
Passengers reorganizing luggage at the airport
The report by Díaz showcased a scene that unfolds daily in Miami: passengers headed to Cuba rearranging their luggage in the airport upon discovering that they had placed lithium batteries in their checked bags, which is strictly prohibited.
A passenger interviewed explained that she had two portable batteries and that the authorities informed her she could not check them in, which is why she decided to carry one herself and her husband took the other as part of their hand luggage.
“We need to bring 10, 15, or even 20 batteries because when the electricity goes out in Cuba, the outages last many days,” the interviewee specified.
The rules to know before traveling
Díaz was emphatic in his call:
"With these trips to Cuba, where people bring all kinds of batteries, you cannot carry a lithium battery in the cargo hold of the plane. It must be kept in your carry-on luggage, and you cannot exceed two lithium batteries, as they can be extremely dangerous."
The journalist also warned about the consequences of concealing information at the time of registration:
"Under no circumstances should you consider lying when checking in for this trip to Cuba, because hiding any type of device can be very dangerous, especially when the airplane is in the air."
The regulations of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are clear: spare lithium batteries must travel exclusively in carry-on luggage, with a maximum of two units of up to 100 Wh per passenger.
Batteries exceeding 160 Wh are prohibited on passenger planes.
The incident cannot be understood without considering the severity of the energy crisis in Cuba. On July 10, the generation deficit reached a historic record of 2,341 MW, with blackouts in provinces like Matanzas exceeding 85 consecutive hours.
The National Electric System collapsed for the fourth time in 2026, which has increased the demand for backup power equipment among Cuban families and their relatives abroad.
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