At least eight people were killed and more than 30 were injured after a blast rocked one of Cuba’s most exclusive five-star hotels. According to local authorities, the explosion at the Saratoga Hotel in Old Havana on Friday was due to a gas leak. The historic five-story building reopened four days after the pandemic.
It is now in ruins and many of its outer walls have been destroyed. 4,444 search and rescue operations are currently underway to find people trapped under the rubble. The injured are being treated at nearby hospitals.
Yazira de la Caridad, who lives a block from the hotel, told CBS News she “thought [the explosion] was an earthquake”.
Witnesses said they saw plumes of black smoke and clouds of dust billowing into the sky following the explosion.
A school which is located directly behind the hotel was unaffected, with local officials confirming all its children have been safely evacuated.
Cuba’s President Miguel DiazCanel has visited the damage site, which sits opposite the government’s old congressional building. The president said: “It was not a bomb or an attack, it’s an unfortunate accident.”
The incident comes as tourism in the country was reemerging from two difficult years caused by the Covid19 pandemic. The Saratoga Hotel had been closed for refurbishment during much of this period.
The 19th century building is synonymous in Havana with visiting celebrities after stars such as Madonna, Beyonce and Mick Jagger stayed there during the thaw between Havana and Washington under President Barack Obama.