A gas leak has caused an explosion in which at least 64 have been injured.
A strong gas explosion has destroyed part of Hotel Saratoga, one of the most emblematic of Havana. Images and videos taken by citizens, alerted from the first moment of the magnitude of the accident, produced by A gas leak, as acknowledged by the Cuban Presidency,
Immediately, neighbors, onlookers and public forces came to the rescue of the victims. As if it was a battle scene, The facade of the hotel has largely disappeared Nearby buildings and nearby vehicles were also affected, including the Concepción Arenal primary school, to show debris inside.
Saratoga, which had 100 rooms, was preparing to reopen next week after the pandemic, which has turned into a major tragedy.
officials have counted At least 22 dead and about 64 injuredHowever, the search among the debris was not over. The enclosure was under repair and there were only workers inside. The explosion caused serious damage to the structure of the building.
“We’re not talking about an attack or anything like that”First Secretary of the Communist Party of Luis Antonio Torres Irbar confirmed Cuba (PCC) in Havana. Rumors, without any continuity, that it was a bomb, spread as soon as the sound of the explosion was heard in the capital. The pillar of smoke rising at that time could be seen from all over the city.
Twenty-four years ago, various hotel establishments in Cuba faced a wave of bomb attacks. In one of them against the Hotel Copacabana, an Italian tourist lost his life.
President Miguel Daz-Canel, accompanied by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, has visited the damaged hotel to deliver the first official information. Ral Castro’s successor confirms it was a gas leak,
The great paradox of the fall of Cuba is that Saratoga is surrounded by buildings in the center of Havana in a state of semi-destruction, and has nothing to do with the recovered areas of Old Havana. One of the capital’s architectural gems, Hotel Saratoga was located on the Paseo de Prado, a few meters from the majestic Capitol, which today houses the National Assembly of the People’s Power, the parliament of the Castro regime.
The building in which it was housed was developed in the 19th century due to the investment of a Spanish businessman, Cantabrian Gregorio Palacios, but it would not be until the 1930s that Saratoga was established as such. From then on, the island’s history took it upon itself to restore it to its splendor before the Revolution, until it prostrated itself after the intervention of municipal authorities. Witness and victim at the same time.
Its decline multiplied during the special period of the 90s, until the government decided to revive it to convert it into the Great Hotel opposite the Capitol. It was reopened in 2005 and became part of Havana’s hotel jewelry, and even Served as the base for most of the US delegation during Barack Obama’s visit in 2016,
There is no record of the Spanish affected as of now with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs According to diplomatic sources, he maintains contact with Cuban officials from the blast and until the identity of the victims is determined.
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