It is a drama that occurred in the capital of Cuba this Friday. As many as 22 people died in an explosion that partially destroyed a historic luxury hotel in central Havana.
The first official report reported 18 deaths, including a child, and more than 50 injured, an hour before four bodies were extricated from the rubble in the early evening, as specified by the local television news.
For his part, Miguel Garcia, director of the Calixto Garcia hospital where some of the injured were transported for treatment, said that eleven of them were “in extremely serious condition”. In another hospital in the region, a two-year-old child had to undergo an operation after “a skull fracture”, as the head of the hospital said.
Cuba: An explosion is reported in Havana this Friday, destroying the Saratoga Hotel. Buses and cars in the surrounding area were also reportedly hit. At the moment, the number of victims is unknown, as well as the causes.
Other video https://t.co/pZwwmfwZKE pic.twitter.com/GPkXfYm08V
— Rebecca Rambar (@RebeccaRambar) May 6, 2022
According to the first secretary of the Communist Party in Havana, Luis Antonio Torres Iribar, “13 people were missing”. He also felt that it is very “possible that other people are trapped under the rubble”.
Moreover, according to the authorities, a canine brigade was sent to find the survivors who would be under the rubble, including in particular a woman with whom the rescuers were in contact.
For the moment, no foreigner has been identified among the victims of this serious accident, since this emblematic establishment in Old Havana had been closed to tourists for two years.
A gas leak
The opening of this luxury hotel was originally scheduled for May 10. This is the reason why there were only workers and employees inside who were preparing for the reopening.
“According to initial findings, the explosion was caused by a gas leak,” said the Cuban presidency through its Twitter account.
The President @DiazCanelB está en el Hotel Saratoga, donde ocurrió una fuerte explosion este mediodía.
Lo acompañan el primer minister @MMarreroCruz y el president of the @AsambleaCubaEsteban Lazo. pic.twitter.com/mInh8FJIca
— Presidency Cuba (@PresidencyCuba) May 6, 2022
A liquid gas cylinder was being replaced in the hotel, according to the manager of the historic district of the Cuban capital, Alexis Costa Silva.
“It was neither a bomb nor an attack, it was a regrettable accident” reassured President Diaz-Canel after his arrival on the scene. An affirmation in particular to silence the speculations shared on social networks.
According to AFP, “the first four floors of the Saratoga hotel, classified 5 stars with its 96 rooms, its two restaurants and its swimming pool on the roof, were blown up in the explosion, which occurred around 11 a.m. and the ground was strewn debris and pieces of glass.
Built in 1880, this building was a shopping mall before being transformed into a hotel in the 1930s, then renovated into a prestigious establishment in 2005.