One person died when a partition wall collapsed in the area of a chimney at the “Antonio Guiteras” large-scale power plant in Matanzas. As Cuban media reports, four workers were buried in the accident on Friday followingnoon, two of whom have now been recovered alive. The rescue of the third person is still going on at the moment.
As reported by the local TV station TV Yurmurí, the men were working at the bottom of the chimney, in the area of the so-called ashtray, where they were sucking out soot and doing other cleaning work, when the seven-meter-high wall collapsed at around 2:30 p.m. The injured workers were working for the state-owned chimney repair and height maintenance company.
Rescue services and the fire brigade responded immediately following the accident and began a rescue operation. Later, Matanzas First Party Secretary Susely Morfa González, Governor Mario Sabines Lorenzo and Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy arrived. As TV Yumuri reports, the two rescued alive were taken to the nearby Faustino Pérez Hospital in the provincial capital, where they are currently being treated for head trauma and broken bones.
The Antonio Guiteras, completed in 1988, is the country’s youngest and most powerful power plant. Last year, the pile had to be repeatedly taken off the grid as a result of several accidents. Since February 20th, the heavy oil power plant has been in revision for several months, during which around 1200 people are on the site every day.
