Cuban officials have confirmed that at least eight people have been killed, at least 13 are missing and at least 30 have been hospitalized after an initial explosion at a Saratoga hotel in Havana on Friday.
The figures were released by the Cuban president Twitter. Similarly, it said that “preliminary investigations indicate that the explosion was caused by a gas leak.”
President Miguel Dias-Colonel He is accompanied by Prime Minister Manuel Marero and National People’s Authority Chairman Estepan Lasso at the scene of the accident.
The children were safely evacuated from a nearby school, according to Cuban Communist Party officials.
The bomber struck shortly after 10:50 a.m. (GMT 2:50 p.m.) and caused part of the building’s faade to collapse, and a large amount of white smoke was visible from most parts of the city.
The ground floor of the six-story building, the first and second floors were badly damaged by the explosion, which caused the facade to collapse, causing rain to fall on the street. The mountain of debris on the sidewalk exceeds a person’s height.
The upper floors are also damaged.
Emergency crews, firefighters and soldiers rushed to the scene. Numerous spectators also gathered around the building.
Saratoga is a neoclassical style building built in 1880 and has been operating as a hotel since 1933. According to official media, its last restoration took place in 2005.
With five stars, this hotel is considered one of the most luxurious in the city.
The institution is located in the Pasio del Prado, one of the main thoroughfares of Old Havana, in the historic center of the Cuban capital.
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