At least 18 people were killed and more than 50 injured Friday after the strong explosion, probably due to a gas leak, which partially destroyed the Saratoga hotel, in the center of Havana in Cuba. No foreigners are apparently among the victims.
“So far, there are 74 injured, of which unfortunately 18 have died”, including a child, said the head of hospital services at the Ministry of Health. The Cuban presidency mentioned a toll of 64 injured and 18 dead after this explosion.
Earlier, the director of the Calixto Garcia hospital, where some of the injured are being treated, had reported that eleven of them were “in extremely serious condition”.
Emblematic establishment of Old Havana with its green facade, the hotel, under construction, had been closed to tourists for two years. Only employees were inside preparing for its reopening, scheduled for May 10.
“According to the first findings, the explosion was caused by a gas leak”, is it specified on the Twitter account of the Cuban presidency.
‘An unfortunate accident’
According to the person in charge of the historic district of the Cuban capital, quoted by the state media Cubadebate, a cylinder of liquid gas was being changed in the hotel. The cook smelled gas and discovered a crack in the pipe which caused the explosion.
‘It was neither a bomb nor an attack. It was a regrettable accident,” said President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who arrived shortly after, wanting to put an end to rumors on social networks that evoked the bombings that took place in several hotels in the 1990s, sponsored by Cuban exiles.
Washington, through State Department spokesman Ned Price, conveyed its “sincere condolences to all those affected by the tragic explosion.”
The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell said on Twitter that he had spoken with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez ‘to take an interest in the situation after the explosion in Havana and to convey to him my condolences and solidarity with the Cuban people. ‘.
Four floors blown
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 11:00 a.m. (5:00 p.m. in Switzerland) and the ground was strewn with debris and pieces of glass, noted AFP journalists.
A few minutes after the explosion, a thick cloud of smoke and dust spread over the avenue du Prado, where this establishment is located, a stone’s throw from the famous Capitol.
There was ‘a huge’ explosion and ‘a cloud of dust that reached the park. A lot of people ran out,” Rogelio Garcia, driver of a pedicab who was passing the Saratoga at the time of the tragedy, told AFP.
“There was a terrible explosion and everything collapsed,” said a woman, her face covered in dust, who did not want to give her name.
The hotel is known for having hosted several celebrities in recent years including Mick Jagger, Beyoncé and Madonna. Built in 1880 to house shops, the building was transformed into a hotel in 1933 and renovated to make it a luxury establishment in 2005.
/ATS