Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
caribbeannetnews.com

Oil refinery blaze in Cuba leaves one dead, one injured
09-30-2006

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): A huge blaze at Cuba's biggest oil refinery in Havana left one worker dead and another injured, television reports said late Thursday.

The fire broke out late Wednesday in the pumping section of the state-owned Nico Lopez refinery, located on Havana Bay 10 kilometers (six miles) from the city center.

It took firefighters five hours to put it out, as two workers injured in the blaze were taken to a nearby military hospital, where one of them later died.

"We've got it under control," a fire department spokesman told AFP. "The fire broke out in an area of the refinery where there's plenty of gasoline, when a van engine was turned on," he added.

Another fire broke out 10 years ago at the same refinery, but it was extinguished in two hours without any injuries or major damage.