Beach Inferno

Dawn was breaking along Venezuela’s coastline as workers began the routine task of unloading an oil tanker at the Tacoa Arricifes generating plant, 20 miles northwest of Caracas. Suddenly and inexplicably, a half-filled storage tank onshore caught fire. Ignited, the 20,000 tons of fuel already in the tank turned the site into an inferno. As hundreds of rescue workers converged on the scene, superheated gases in the same tank erupted, trapping rescuers in a curtain of fire. Then, 17 hours later, a second tank nearby exploded. In the searing heat one fire engine reportedly just melted; balls of fire rising 100 ft. into the air knocked a police helicopter into the ocean. Said Oscar Machado Zuloaga, president of the Caracas Electricity Co.: “It was as if a giant flamethrower was being operated.”

More than 1,000 police and firemen battled the blaze for three days before bringing it under control. The toll: at least 145 dead, including 43 firemen, and 500 injured. Damage may run as high as $4 million. In Caracas, which depends on the plant for 50% of its electricity, Christmas lights were dimmed and elevator use was curtailed. President Luis Herrera Campins maintained a roundthe-clock vigil, and on the country’s beaches where holiday crowds traditionally revel, somber Venezuelans respected a three-day mourning period by singing public funeral Masses.