Cuban oil fire all but out, blackouts and gas lines lengthen

FILE PHOTO: Workers rest next to images of late former Cuban President Fidel Castro, Cuba's former President Raul Castro and Cuba's President and First Secretary of the Communist Party Miguel Diaz-Canel in an area of tanks that exploded near Cuba's supertanker port in Matanzas, Cuba, August 10, 2022. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cubans have been left to endure six- to 18-hour blackouts, and search for ever-scarcer gasoline in the wake of a spectacular blaze that destroyed 40% of Cuba’s main fuel depot and shuttered its only supertanker port.

The fire began on Friday when lighting struck a storage tank, spreading to three others before being brought under control on Tuesday. By Thursday the flames were out, but oil residues remained dangerously hot.