22 Dead, Scores Hospitalised As Explosion Hits Popular 5-Star Hotel

22 Dead, Scores Hospitalised As Explosion Hits Popular 5-Star Hotel

At least 22 people have died and more than 60 have been hospitalised after a massive explosion rocked one of Cuba’s most exclusive five-star hotels.

It is believed a gas tanker which was parked outside the Saratoga Hotel in Old Havana ignited, causing an explosion which destroyed several floors of the building.

The historic hotel was set for a post-pandemic reopening in four days.

It now lies in ruins, with much of its outer wall torn off.

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Search and rescue operations are currently under way to locate people trapped under the debris.

The Cuban presidency said the dead included a pregnant woman and a child.

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.

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Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel has visited the damaged 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 re-emerging after two difficult years caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Saratoga Hotel, a landmark in the colonial district of the capital, 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.

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