Saratoga: Nine dead and 13 missing in an explosion at a luxury hotel in downtown Havana | International

A strong explosion caused by the explosion of a gas deposit has destroyed the Saratoga hotel, one of the most emblematic and luxurious in Havana (Cuba). Nine people have died, 13 remain missing and at least 40 have been injured in the vicinity of the hotel, of which seven are in serious condition. Among the injured there are at least three injured children, one of them with a skull fracture and his life is in danger, according to Cuban television. The affected establishment had been closed for more than two years due to the covid-19 pandemic and was preparing to reopen for May 10.

Located in front of the Capitol of the Cuban capital, the hotel is in a tourist area with a large movement of people, surrounded by shops and with a nearby school, which was evacuated as soon as the explosion occurred. The explosion, which occurred around 10.50 in the morning, local time, has brought down the façade and has caused the collapse of several floors of the six-storey building, the destruction of several cars and buses and a fire. According to official sources, the accident occurred while a tanker truck was supplying liquefied gas to the hotel’s tanks. Now, the authorities have said, an investigation will be launched to clarify the causes of what happened.

The collapse has caused a shower of debris onto the street, where a mountain of debris greater than a person’s height has accumulated in some places. An unknown number of people were trapped in them, and firefighters and rescue forces worked there in the afternoon trying to locate survivors and bodies of the deceased. The authorities have warned of the possible risk of the hotel collapsing.

At first, the government considered the possibility that it was an attack, but the Cuban president himself, Miguel Díaz-Canel, who appeared at the scene shortly after the explosion, dismissed it. “It was neither a bomb nor an attack, it was an unfortunate accident,” confirmed the president, who later went to the Hermanos Almeijeras and Calixto García hospitals, in charge of caring for the victims, to find out the state of health of the victims. the wounded. “Guapeen there, we have to save our people,” he told the director of Calixto García after his visit, according to what the Presidency reported on his Twitter account.

The area was immediately cordoned off by police and firefighters, who at this time are still looking for people under the ruins of the building. The explosion generated a column of smoke visible from various points of the city and made many onlookers concentrate on the place, located in the heart of Old Havana and in one of the busiest areas of the capital. The local media reported considerable material damage to nearby buildings, including the Martí theater, where a dance company was preparing a presentation, although luckily there were no victims there. The mayor of Old Havana, Alexis Acosta Silva, assured that all the children from the school near Saratoga were evacuated and none have been injured.

The hotel building, built in 1880 and in a neoclassical style, was remodeled in the 1990s and functioned as a five-star tourist establishment, one of the most luxurious in the capital, until the start of the pandemic. The chaos after the explosion was considerable, with ambulances and firefighters and a crowd of onlookers who swarmed behind the security cordons trying to find out what had happened. “Compatriots and friends from all over the world, Havana is in shock today after the accidental explosion of a gas tank at the Saratoga hotel, which caused a large part of the facility to collapse,” wrote Díaz-Canel, who regretted what happened and expressed solidarity. with the victims.

One of the first international reactions was that of Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Erbrard, who is traveling to Havana tomorrow accompanying Mexican President Manuel López Obrador, on a brief official visit to the island, which is continuing. “Our solidarity with the victims and those affected by that endearing brother town,” the minister wrote. There is no information about foreign tourists killed or injured during the accident.

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