Cuba bids farewell to firefighters killed in fuel depot blaze

Thousands of Cubans turned out to bid a final farewell to 14 firefighters killed while battling a blaze at a fuel depot this month.

A long line of firefighters, soldiers and ordinary citizens solemnly filed past 14 coffins draped in the Cuban flag at a ceremony in Matanzas, some 100 kilometers east of the capital Havana.

Also on hand were several of the island nation's top dignitaries, including leader Raul Castro, who headed an honour guard featuring President Miguel Diaz-Canel and Defence Minister General Alvaro Lopez Miera.

The blaze broke out on August 5 when lightning struck a tank containing 26 million litres of fuel at a depot on the outskirts of Matanzas, a city of some 140,000 people.

A major explosion occurred when a second fuel tank caught fire -- killing the firefighters already on site.

Two other firefighters had also died in the blaze. Some 130 people were injured, of whom 18 remain in hospital.

It took six more days to bring the fire under control, during which time the 14 firefighters were officially listed as missing.

After missing firefighters' remains were found, officials said the bodies were too charred to allow for DNA identification.

The 14 were honoured on the second of two days of national mourning announced by Diaz-Canel, who offered his condolences via Twitter to loved ones of "these brave Cubans."