Death toll rises as search goes on
The death toll of a powerful explosion at a luxury hotel in Cuba’s capital increased to 31 yesterday as search crews with dogs hunted through the rubble of the iconic, 19th century building looking for people still missing.
The Hotel Saratoga, a five-star 96-room hotel in Old Havana, was preparing to reopen after being closed for two years when an apparent gas leak ignited, blowing the outer walls into the busy, midmorning streets just a block from the country’s Capitol building on Saturday.
Several nearby structures also were damaged, including the historic Marti Theatre and the Calvary Baptist Church, headquarters for the denomination in western Cuba. The church said on its Facebook page that the building suffered ‘‘significant structural damage, with several collapsed or cracked walls and columns (and) the ceiling partially collapsed,’’ though no church workers were hurt.
In releasing the names of those who were killed, the Health Ministry said the dead included four minors, a pregnant woman and a Spanish tourist, whose companion was seriously injured.
The ministry also said 54 people were injured, with 24 hospitalised. It previously reported 85 injured, but that tally turned out to include those killed by the explosion.
Authorities said the cause of the explosion at the hotel owned by Grupo de Turismo Gaviota SA was still under investigation, but believed it to have been caused by a gas leak. A large crane hoisted a charred gas tanker out of the rubble yesterday.
Burials for victims had begun, municipal authorities said, while some people still waited for news of missing friends and relatives.
‘‘We are hoping that something will be known about my cousin’s mother,’’ Angela Acosta told The Associated Press near the site of the explosion. Her relative, Maria de la Concepcion Alard, lived in an apartment adjacent to the hotel with a black labrador, which was rescued along with another dog yesterday.
‘‘There are mothers who are without their children today,’’ said Matha Verde, a manicurist who was walking near the Saratoga. She said she tells women who lost their sons or daughters in the explosion that they ‘‘have to keep going’’.
The explosion added to the woes of a crucial tourism industry that had been stifled by the coronavirus pandemic as well as tightened sanctions imposed by former US President Donald Trump and kept in place by the Biden administration. Those limited visits by US tourists to the islands and restricted remittances from Cubans in the US to their families in Cuba.
Tourism had started to revive somewhat early this year, but the war in Ukraine deflated a boom of Russian visitors, who accounted for almost a third of the tourists arriving in Cuba last year.
The Saratoga, which had been closed through the pandemic, was one of the elite lodgings in Havana, often hosting visiting VIPs and celebrities. Its owner is one of the Cuban military’s businesses.
Mexican leader visits
Some attention in Cuba began to shift to an official visit by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who arrived on Sunday at the end of a five-country tour that began in Central America.
Lopez Obrador met Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who awarded him the Order of Jose Marti ‘‘for his great achievements for humanity’’. It is the most important award the country gives to a foreigner.
Diaz-Canel’s office stated in a tweet that Lopez Obrador said he would insist to US President Joe Biden that Cuba not be excluded from the Summit of the Americas it will host in Los Angeles in June.
Lopez Obrador said the objectives of the trip included signing agreements on trade, health, education and cooperation with the island, while he ratified his foreign policy stance.
‘‘We are not in favour of hegemonies,’’ he said.
‘‘Let no-one exclude anyone because we are independent countries, we are sovereign countries, and no-one can place themselves above the rights of peoples and nations.’’
Diaz-Canel visited Mexico during its independence day celebrations last year.
Lopez Obrador has recently spoken out against the apparent US government intention to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the upcoming summit. –