A couple lost their lives and their three children were injured by the explosion of an electric motorcycle in the Havana municipality of La Lisathis Wednesday.
The incident was spread on Facebook by users and relatives of the victims. The singer Saúl Manuel shared the message sent by a cousin of the deceased woman, who was identified as Kirenia Cancio Domínguez, 43 years old.
According to several publications, the three children, a nine-year-old boy and two 21-year-old twin girls, are hospitalized in critical condition. The child, named Elonay Rankin Cancio, has third-degree burns throughout the body. It has not been revealed which hospital he is in.
The two young women are called Alejandra and Laura, and they are Biology students. They are admitted to the Calixto García Hospital and require 0+ blood donations. Those interested in helping can go to the blood bank located at 23 and 2, in Vedado or call +53 5 9113229.
The independent medium Cubanet He was able to verify that the husband’s name was Alejandro Fernández de las Cagigas, and that both he and Cancio Domínguez worked at the Hotel Comodoro.
Motorbike fires, as those electric vehicles that have become a widespread means of transportation in Cuba are known., have become sadly common. There are many that have resulted in the loss of human lives.
In September 2023, a 15-year-old teenager died and 18 people were injured due to the explosion of one of these motorcycles in the Nuevo Vedado neighborhood, in the Plaza de la Revolución municipality of Havana.
In July of that same year, a week after the death of seven people in a home in Havana after the fire of one of those vehicles, the official press recognized “the growing and painful accident rate linked to the increase in so-called motor accidents.” The issue was addressed in a broadcast of the state television program Round table.
Major Jelsy González Longo, first specialist of the National Fire Departmentrevealed chilling data: “today there are 1.67 fires a day” related to this type of accident.
From 2019 to that date, more than 3,000 fires fought by firefighters had been recorded. In July of last year there were more than 300 fires involving electric mopeds or lithium batteries.
“This is why it is essential to carry out communication campaigns to explain the risks of this type of technology,” González Longo said then.
Accidents in these vehicles are usually caused by the batteries overheating, leaving them connected to the power to charge them.
