A violent explosion occurred in the old town of the Cuban capital Havana on Friday morning. A hotel was badly damaged. A gas leak could have been the cause.
The Saratog Hotel in Havana, Cuba, was destroyed in an explosion.
(dpa) At least eight people were killed in an explosion at a luxury hotel in the old town of the Cuban capital, Havana. There are also around 30 injured, reported the presidential office of the socialist Caribbean state. Accordingly, there was a strong explosion at the Hotel Saratoga on Friday morning (local time). According to initial investigations, a gas leak was the cause.
A witness reported that the hotel was being supplied with liquid gas at the moment of the explosion, reported “Granma”, the newspaper of the Communist Party of Cuba. Accordingly, construction work also took place at the hotel. There were no tourists there.
A large cloud of smoke and the partly collapsed facade of the building could be seen in the pictures. At least one neighboring building and several vehicles were also obviously damaged. Videos on social networks showed a crowd around the scene of the accident. Some people rushed to try to help the injured. A nearby school was evacuated, according to the government. President Miguel Díaz-Canel got an idea of the situation on site.
Una great explosion in La Habana, #cubadestroy the emblemático #HotelSaratoga.
Se desconoce, por el momento, la cause de la explosion y si hay víctimas. pic.twitter.com/CO4iJasnaT— Rocio Lara (@Rocio_Lara89) May 6, 2022