The World - News from March 31, 1988
Canadian authorities criticized Cuban officials who initially refused to allow firefighters to enter Havana’s consulate in Montreal, where a fire claimed three lives. Police said the firefighters were delayed by consular officials who refused them entry to the building for 15 minutes for fear of exposing secret documents. More than 100 firefighters fought the blaze for three hours before it was contained. An official at the Cuban Embassy in Ottawa identified the three dead Cubans as Norma Santizo, wife of Consul Omar Santizo, consulate employee Jose Perez and Pablo Gonzalez, a member of the Cuban trade mission in Montreal. Santizo is second in command to Consul-General Lourdes Urrutia.
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