Critical Injury Reported After Accident at Renté Thermoelectric Plant

A severe workplace accident on Sunday at the Antonio Maceo Grajales Thermoelectric Power Plant, widely known as "Renté," has left a worker with life-threatening burns covering most of his body, as reported by the Electric Union. The victim, 33-year-old turbine operator Carlos Rafael López Ibarra, sustained burns on 89% of his body due to a sudden release of high-temperature steam during the startup and synchronization of generation unit No. 5, according to official reports.

Immediately following the incident, the facility's medical team provided emergency care and transported López Ibarra to Dr. Juan Bruno Zayas Alfonso General Hospital, where he remains in a critical condition with a guarded prognosis. Dr. Miguel Ángel Díaz Núñez, the provincial director of Public Health, stated that the patient is conscious, breathing on his own, and able to eat orally, with all necessary medications and supplies secured, as per a local television report.

Provincial authorities have visited the injured worker at the hospital, expressing concern over his medical care and family support. Jesús Aguilar Hernández, the plant's director, announced that safety protocols have been enacted and an investigation is underway to determine the precise cause of the steam infrastructure failure.

Last year, even though the number of workplace accidents in Cuba decreased, the death toll remained constant at 52, equating to the alarming statistic of one fatality per week. The latest report from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) indicates a 37.7% reduction in the total number of accidents compared to 2023, dropping from 1,498 to 934 incidents.