The place was not yet operational to receive tourists. They consider them to be employees.
A powerful explosion apparently caused by a gas leak on Friday killed at least 22 people — 21 adults and one minor — and injured dozens more following blowing out the exterior walls of the first floors of a five-star hotel in the heart of Havana.
The explosion occurred shortly before 11 in the morning and the shocking noise was heard all around. “It was not a bomb, it was not an attack… it was a very unfortunate accident,” President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who went to the scene, told reporters.
During the followingnoon the figure of nine dead was handled but hours later the presidency updated the number to 22 deceased.
In turn, Dr. Julio Guerra, from the Ministry of Health, said at a press conference that there are at least 74 injured. The bodies are “in the process of being identified,” said Guerra, who also indicated that the names will be announced in the next few hours.
“We are still looking for an important group of people who may be under the rubble,” Lt. Col. Noel Silva of the Fire Department said shortly before.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Health, José Ángel Portal, told The Associated Press that at least two hospitals had received “so far” some 40 wounded, a figure that might increase as the rubble is removed.
A director of one of the hospitals to which those affected were taken indicated that among the victims there were three children who were being treated: two of them regarding six years old and another two.
No details were given regarding the nationalities of the victims, but the facility was not yet operating with international tourists, following the stoppage due to the covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, it is estimated that they would be Cubans.
Both Minister Portal and Díaz-Canel visited the Calixto García Hospital, where most of the injured were transferred.
The official newspaper Granma reported that Reinaldo García Zapata, governor of Havana, confirmed that the hotel was undergoing renovations and that there were no tourists in the facilities. An adjoining elementary school had to be evacuated.
An AP reporter who was able to get close to the scene saw extensive damage to the first three floors of the building, where the exterior walls had completely collapsed and rooms might be seen inside.
Firefighters were working to remove the rubble and several ambulances were transporting the injured. The police cordoned off the area with yellow tape to prevent the passage of civilians.
The hotel is located in front of the Capitol, where the Assembly of People’s Power, the Cuban Parliament, is currently located.
potential workers
After noon, the relatives of the injured who were being treated at the scene began to arrive at the Calixto García Hospital.
“He had to work today. She is a waitress. I work two blocks away, I felt the noise and at first I didn’t even associate, ”she told the AP through tears Beatriz Céspedes Cobas, 26, sister of Shaidis Cobas, 27, while she tried to gather information.
Later, Cuban state television showed the removal of a gas tanker and blamed it for causing the explosion. The director of the Gas company, Lázara Soria, indicated that the truck supplied the hotel – without specifying for what type of service – and said that it had regarding 12,000 liters of fluid.
Cuban photographer Michel Figueroa was passing in front of the Saratoga when the explosion occurred. “The explosion knocked me to the ground and my head still hurts. I stood up, but it all happened so fast,” he said as he showed the AP pictures he took of the front of the hotel just following the blast.
Mayile Pérez came running to the area asking for her husband, Daniel Serra, who works in a store located inside the hotel. She indicated that her husband called her following the explosion and only told her “I’m fine, I’m fine, they took us out,” but she was unable to speak to him once more.
For her part, Yazira de la Caridad, who lives a block away, reported that “everything moved the building, I thought it was an earthquake. I still have my heart in my hand”.
The hotel is located in an area of old and deteriorated buildings, so hundreds of residents took to the streets in fear of new explosions.
The Saratoga, located in the historic center of Havana, is a five-star hotel with 96 rooms, two bars, two restaurants, a spa, and a rooftop pool with a panoramic view of the city. International figures have stayed there, such as the American singer Beyoncé and her husband, Jay Z.
With its French neoclassical design and wrought iron balconies, it is one of the most emblematic buildings in the Cuban capital.
Grupo Gaviota, belonging to the business area of the Armed Forces and which manages the hotel, indicated that the case is being investigated in a statement posted on its website. A request for reaction sent by AP requesting comment was not immediately returned.
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