TEHRAN – Iranian Oil Ministry has dispatched a group of technical experts to Cuba in order to help put out a fire set off by a lightning strike at an oil storage facility in the Cuban city of Matanzas, Shana reported.

Following the incident, the Cuban government asked for help from international experts in “friendly countries” with experience in the oil sector.

As reported, the first goal of this group is to transfer experiences and train Cuban firefighters and experts about the ways of dealing with oil tank fires. The training will help Cubans to be prepared to deal with such incidents in the future.

In addition to the dispatching of the mentioned team, Director General of the Iranian Oil Ministry’s Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Mazaher Ansari had also had a video conference session with Cuban firefighting groups based at the incident site, and the country’s oil officials, in which he provided them with instructions and keynotes about the dos and don'ts of fire control in oil facilities.

Iran has a significant history in providing such services to other oil-rich countries in need. As in the fire incident in Kuwait oil facilities during the Iraq-Kuwait war, Iranian experts played a prominent role in controlling the fire.

EF/MA