News · Energy
Periódico Cubano: a teenager dies in Los Arabos after a high-voltage cable falls
Elvis Daniel Carine González, a twelfth-grade student, died after two days in hospital with severe burns; the accident happened on November 6, 2026, in Los Arabos, Matanzas, after an explosion in the distribution grid.
Elvis Daniel Carine González died after suffering severe burns from an electric shock caused by a falling cable in Los Arabos, Matanzas. The accident happened on Friday, November 6, 2026, at around 10:10 a.m., after an explosion in the distribution grid, and his death was reported on Sunday 8, according to Periódico Cubano, which cites CubitaNOW.
The twelfth-grade student spent two days in hospital in critical condition; the burns and a cardiorespiratory arrest are said to have caused his death. He was given first aid in Los Arabos, taken to the Mario Muñoz hospital in Colón and then to the Eliseo Noel Caamaño paediatric hospital in the city of Matanzas, with Interior Ministry traffic units taking part in the transfer.
Accounts circulated on social media hold that the teenager tried to shield a girl when the cable fell near the high school where he studied. That version has not been confirmed by any official technical report, and it is not known what caused the explosion or whether there were earlier problems with the electrical installation. Raisdel Naya, head of the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Centre in Colón, initially reported the burns and the need for urgent medical care.
The death comes amid the deterioration of Cuba's electrical system: during October, Matanzas recorded 162 faulty transformers and more than 15,000 people affected by supply cuts, according to figures cited by CiberCuba and relayed by Periódico Cubano, which recalls that in July the authorities acknowledged blackouts of more than 70 hours on circuits in the province.
The province recorded another electricity-related death on October 13: Raudel Alejandro Guerra, a 19-year-old conscript, died in an electrical accident at a military unit in Cidra and another young man was seriously injured. So far no official report has been released establishing the causes of the explosion in Los Arabos or any responsibility for it.
Sources: Periódico Cubano
Data updated: 2026-11-09T04:15:00.000Z