Havana: A ‘gazelle’, hit by a fire tanker truck in Vedado

Havana/The collision with a Fire Department tanker truck that was on its way to put out a fire caused a Foton electric minibus to overturn, this Tuesday, at the intersection of Paseo and 23rd streets, in the Havana municipality of Plaza de la Revolución.

The accident, in the neighborhood of El Vedado, left several injured and so far no deaths have been reported, according to testimonies spread on social networks and the portal Cubadebatethat acknowledged the accident and informs that the gazelle It was transporting 12 people, but has not given details of its causes.

According to the Cuban News Agency (ACN), the incident occurred when the minibus disregarded the truck’s right of way, which caused the collision. The media reports that the tanker belongs to Command 9 of the Cuban Fire Department.

According to the comments from multiple witnesses on Facebook, the vehicle was hit by the firefighter’s pipe that was descending Paseo in response to a fire reported in the area. The crash caused the minibus to overturn, remaining on the sidewalk against a Transit Police point, as shown in the images.

The comments indicate that the fire truck, after the impact, moved several meters until it reached the vicinity of the corner of Paseo and 21, which has made it difficult to visually reconstruct the complete sequence of the accident from the images released.

“A fire truck asking for a way crashed into the gazellethe gazelle he did not give way and it led to that tragedy,” writes one of the witnesses on social networks. Another publishes a photo of the fire tanker truck with his testimony: “That was that there was a fire on Calzada and J and a tanker truck crossed 23rd and collided with the gazelle”.

Emergency teams went to the scene a few minutes after the impact and transferred the injured to nearby hospitals – the Calixto García and Clínico de 26 Hospitals. Until now, the exact number of injuries or the severity of their injuries has not been specified, although due to the impact on the passenger transportation vehicle, the physical damage could be serious. The raised windshield, the collapsed side and the open rear door, which can be seen in the photographs, point to a severe crash.

Comments indicate that this intersection has always been a danger due to its high density of movement and the lack of effective traffic regulation measures. The accident revives concerns about the circulation of emergency vehicles in a city where neither signage nor power outages contribute to road safety.

According to ACN, the streets near the incident are currently being closed to prioritize road safety while the authorities investigate to clarify the incident.