Havana hotel explosion kills 18, injures dozens
HAVANA — A powerful explosion apparently caused by a natural gas leak killed at least 18 people, including a pregnant woman and a child, and injured dozens Friday when it blew away outer walls from a luxury hotel in the heart of Cuba’s capital.
No tourists were staying at the 96-room Hotel Saratoga because it was undergoing renovations, Havana Gov. Reinaldo Garcia Zapata told the Communist Party newspaper Granma.
“It has not been a bomb or an attack. It is a tragic accident,” President Miguel Diaz-canel said in a tweet.
Diaz-canel told reporters that 50 adults and 14 children were hospitalized after the blast, and that families in buildings near the hotel affected by the explosion had been transferred to safer locations.
Cuban state TV reported that the blast was caused by a truck that had been supplying natural gas to the hotel, but did not provide details on how the gas ignited.
Cuba’s national health minister, Jose Ángel Portal, told The Associated Press the number of injured could rise as the search continues for people who may be trapped in the rubble of the 19th century structure in the Old Havana neighborhood of the city.
“We are still looking for a large group of people who may be under the rubble,” Lt. Col. Noel Silva of the Fire Department said.
An elementary school next to the hotel was evacuated. It was not immediately clear if the injured children were students.
Police cordoned off the area as firefighters and rescue workers toiled inside the wreckage about 110 yards from Cuba’s Capitol building.
The Hotel Saratoga has been used frequently by visiting VIPS and political figures.