Hotel Saratoga Havana

Police and fire rescuers are combing through rubble for survivors after an explosion late Friday morning destroyed a hotel in Havana, Cuba, killing at least ...

Fireman were using their bare hands to move chunks of broken granite and stone in order to pull people out of the rubble. It has 96 rooms since reopening in 2005 after refurbishment, according to its website Plumes of dust and smoke could be seen rising around debris on the ground.

Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel says initial investigations suggest explosion at Hotel Saratoga was caused by a gas leak.

“It means that less tourists will come because of fear,” said Jiskli Águila, 51, who works in a furniture factory, and was watching TV two blocks away when the explosion happened. “I’ve still got my heart in my hand.” The hotel was closed to tourists at the time of the explosion, but workers were inside and at least 13 people were missing, according to Cuban officials.

At least 8 people died and dozens were injured Friday in an explosion at Hotel Saratoga in Havana that was likely caused by a gas leak.

Taxi cabs outside were pancaked by slabs of concrete that fell in the blast, photos show. Even before that, the country was reeling over sanctions imposed by the former U.S. President Donald Trump that have been kept in place the Biden administration. Havana Gov. Reinaldo García Zapata said the hotel was undergoing renovations and no tourists were staying there, according to Granma, the Cuban communist party's newspaper. Photos published by Cuban news ACN and Granma showed severe damage to the hotel's walls and clouds of smoke billowing into the sky. Preliminary information indicates the blast was likely caused by a gas leak, according to a stream of updates posted on President Miguel Díaz-Canel's Twitter account. "It has not been a bomb or an attack.

Explosión de una caldera en el Hotel Saratoga, esta mañana en la Habana. Dios mio, Terrible!!!

It is believed that the majority of the damage is on the first floor. With its French neoclassical design, with wrought iron balconies, it is one of the most emblematic buildings in the Cuban capital. Video released on Friday shows there is not much left of the hotel, which is located in front of the headquarters of the Capitol building, where the Cuban Parliament currently meets. it has been a very unfortunate accident,” said President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who went to the scene shortly after the blast. Hotel Saratoga, Habana Vieja en estos momentos. The Saratoga, located in the historic center of Havana, is a five-star hotel with 96 rooms, bars, restaurants and a rooftop pool with a panoramic view of the city.

Firefighters and rescue workers searched the rubble of the Hotel Saratoga for additional victims. Authorities said preliminary investigation indicated the ...

He rushed to the hotel and found a scene of chaos and confusion. Duque, the travel blogger, lives outside of Havana but goes into the city almost every day to take photos promoting its architecture. A tweet from the presidency showed an injured child in a hospital bed, a patch over one eye, as Díaz-Canel visited with patients. A photo published by the news agency Reuters showed at least one body in the street outside the hotel covered with a sheet. Havana Gov. Reinaldo García Zapata said the hotel was undergoing repairs and there were no tourists inside, according to the Communist Party newspaper Granma. “We thought it was a bomb or an attack,” Duque said.

An explosion caused by an apparent gas leak left dozens injured and destroyed parts of a luxury hotel. Other people were possibly trapped inside the rubble.

A subsequent government crackdown has led to the jailing of dozens of people for crimes, including sedition. It reopened again as a hotel in 2005. Finished in 1880 by one of Cuba’s most prominent businessmen, Gregoria Palacios, it initially served as a tobacco warehouse and store, along with some apartments. The island nation had been shut off to visitors for months, plunging Cuba into one of it worst economic crises in history. An iconic building dating to the 19th century, the Saratoga Hotel had reopened in 2005 as a luxury, five-star establishment. Among its notable clientele have been the guitarist Jimmy Page and the singer Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. Photos shared online showed Cubans lining up to donate at a blood bank in Havana. The president’s office added that search and rescue efforts were still being carried out, with people potentially still trapped in the rubble. But the authorities were quick to dismiss any speculation that the blast had been deliberate. She said windows were blown out, with shards of glass flying a considerable distance. “I’ve still got my heart in my hand.” “We couldn’t get out because the door wouldn’t open.”

A powerful explosion apparently caused by a gas leak killed at least 18 people, including a pregnant woman and a child, and injured dozens Friday when it ...

Besides the pandemic's impact on Cuba's tourism sector, the country was already struggling with the sanctions imposed by the former U.S. president Donald Trump that have been kept in place the Biden administration. She is a housekeeper," she said. I thought it was an earthquake," she said. "She had to work today. But she was unable to reach him after that. It happened as Cuba is struggling to revive its key tourism sector that was devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. They got us out." Everything was very fast." "It has not been a bomb or an attack. Among them was Beatriz Cespedes Cobas, who was tearfully searching for her sister. It's unclear if the elder boys were students. Two six-year-old boys and a two-year-old boy were among the injured, according to officials at the hospital treating them.

There is a danger that the collapse of the buildings will continue, so the authorities are expanding the closure perimeter & evacuating people.

Most of the victims are transferred to the Hermanos Ameijeiras, Calixto García, Manuel Fajardo and Miguel Enríque hospitals where they receive medical attention. Several posts on social networks showed widespread chaos at the accident site, large volumes of debris and damage to the environment near the site. The original façade of the property collapsed, as well as at least a third of the adjoining building.

HAVANA TIMES – Apart from the Saratoga Hotel where the main explosion occurred on Friday morning, there are another 23 affected buildings in the area.

On the nightly Round Table program, the governor of Havana, Reinaldo García Zapata, said that there are 23 buildings affected, 17 of them housing. The Cuban TV news on Friday night said so far there are 22 deaths, including a child and a pregnant woman. In two of them, where 40 Cuban families live, the damage is structural.

The Cuban TV news on Friday night said so far there are 22 deaths, including a child and a pregnant woman, as well as 64 persons injured.

On the nightly Round Table program, the governor of Havana, Reinaldo García Zapata, said that there are 23 buildings affected, 17 of them housing. The Cuban TV news on Friday night said so far there are 22 deaths, including a child and a pregnant woman. In two of them, where 40 Cuban families live, the damage is structural.

"In no case was it a bomb or an attack," he later told Reuters as he left the capital's Calixto Garcia hospital, where many of the injured were treated. 'It's ...

According to the hotel’s website, it was reopened in 2005 following subsequent renovations. A teacher said three students had ben injured, according to The New York Times. She added that the explosion had blown out the windows, sending shards of broken glass flying through the air. Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma tweeted that the blast happened “while liquefied gas was presumably being moved from a truck”. Meanwhile, a 300-student school next to the hotel was evacuated. Buses and cars in the vicinity were also destroyed. The blast also damaged nearby buildings in the area, which not far from the Cuban capitol in Havana’s Old Town.

At least 22 people were killed and dozens more injured during a powerful gas explosion that rocked Hotel Saratoga in Havana, Cuba, according to reports.

“This wasn’t a bomb or an attack, it was a lamentable accident,” said Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who rushed to the scene along with other high-ranking Cuban officials. Cuban authorities said at least one child is among the dead and that 50 adults and 14 minors were injured and being treated at local hospitals after Friday’s explosion caused by a gas leak at the Hotel Saratoga, according to the Wall Street Journal. At least 26 people were killed and dozens more injured during a powerful gas explosion that rocked a landmark hotel in Havana, Cuba, according to multiple reports.