The island's Communist Armed Forces reported that the detonation shook the small rural community of Melones, in the eastern province of Holguín, 724 km southeast of Havana. The whereabouts of four officers and nine soldiers are unknown.
The island's Armed Forces reported that the detonation shook the small rural community of Melones, in the eastern province of Holguín, 724 km southeast of Havana. The whereabouts of four officers and nine soldiers are unknown.
Thirteen Cuban soldiers are missing after explosions that shook a weapons and ammunition depot in the eastern province of Holguín, the (Communist) Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba reported late Tuesday.
The explosions shook the small rural community of Melones on Tuesday morning, 724 km southeast of Havana. According to the authorities, the explosions were caused by a fire in a construction site.
The Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces reported through its account on the social network Facebook that on Tuesday there were explosions in a work in which war material is stored as a result of a fire.
The first news of the incident in the official Cuban press emerged in the early hours of the morning. They stressed that the event does not offer danger to the community - and that the authorities were investigating the causes of the fire that caused the detonations.
The Cuban Army reported that the missing troops are four officers and nine soldiers, indicating that the families were informed by the Communist Party of Cuba. The Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces pay all possible attention to this situation and the investigations are continuing at the scene of the events, the institution added.
Videos posted on social media showed columns of dark smoke and flames above a grove near Melones.
Soldiers and local police monitored access routes to the site while rescue teams and firefighters worked to put out the flames.
As of early Tuesday, authorities reported that 361 people had been evacuated to a safe location following the explosion.