Havana building’s partial collapse kills 1
HAVANA — A building in the historic center of Havana that housed 13 families partially collapsed, leaving one person dead and at least two injured, Cuban authorities said Wednesday.
Rescue teams were trying to access the building where two people remained trapped after Tuesday night’s collapse.
While the reason for the collapse was not immediately known, the area has several aging buildings that lack maintenance and deteriorate in tropical rains such as those that are currently hitting the island.
Alexis Acosta Silva, mayor of Old Havana, told local media there were 54 people in the three-story building at the time of the collapse. Families were evacuated to a nearby school.
Cuba’s Director of Housing, Vivian Rodríguez, said this week that the island has a housing deficit of 800 homes. Government figures from 2020 showed Cuba had 3.9 million homes. Of these, nearly 40% were in fair and poor condition.