“We deeply lament the fire that occurred in a MINFAR warehouse in Melones, in the Holguín municipality of Rafael Freyre. We stand in solidarity with and accompany the families of all 13 missing persons. Full attention is being paid to what happened there and the causes are being investigated,” the head of State wrote on X. On Tuesday, the MINFAR reported explosions at a construction site where war material was stored.

The Provincial Defense Council of Holguín and a Commission from the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces protected nearly 500 people who live near the site where the event occurred.

According to the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in Holguín, Joel Quipo, the evacuation is part of the attention by relevant authorities to the fire as a result of the explosions in the military warehouse.

So far, the following officers are reported missing: Major Leonar Palma Matos and Major Carlos Carreño del Río, Second Warrant Officers Orleban Camet Torres, and Yoennis Pérez Durand; as well as the soldiers Leinier Jorget Sánchez Franco, Frank Antonio Hidalgo Almaguer, Liander José Gracia Oliva, Yunior Hernández Rojas, Rainer Rojas Rojas, Carlos Alejandro Acosta Silva, Bryan Lázaro Rojas Long, José Carlos Guerrero García and Héctor Adrián Batista Zayas.

According to a MINFAR statement, the relatives of the missing people were duly informed, while the Communist Party, the Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces are paying close attention to the situation and the investigation is underway at the scene.

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