On Friday evening, lightning struck one of eight storage tanks at the facility 95 kilometres east of Havana. Heat from the blaze reached a second tank on Saturday and the wind blew flames dangerously close to a third.

"We express deep gratitude to the governments of Mexico, Venezuela, Russia, Chile ... which have promptly offered material aid in the face of this complex situation," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel tweeted.

"We also appreciate the offer of technical advice from the US," he said.

Cuban authorities said at least 121 people were injured in the second blast, of which 36 remained in hospital, five in critical condition. One person was listed as dead and 17 firefighters were unaccounted for. More than 1000 civilians were evacuated from the area.

Diaz-Canel visited the scene around midnight, then returned to spend Saturday coordinating the response as state-run television broadcast live coverage of the unfolding disaster.

Before the second blast, Diaz-Canel posted on Twitter that first responders were "trying to avert the spread of the flames and any spill of fuel" into the Matanzas bay.

Military helicopters were dumping seawater on nearby storage tanks as smoke reached Havana and residents were warned to avoid acid rain.

Cuba has been suffering daily blackouts and fuel shortages. The loss of fuel and storage capacity is likely to aggravate the situation which has led to small local protests in the last few months.

Australian Associated Press