Huge explosion blows the wall of a luxury hotel in Cuba, many people are killed

Havana’s governor, Reinaldo García Zapata, told Granma newspaper that no tourists stay at the 96-room Saratoga hotel because the 19th-century hotel in Old Havana is undergoing renovation.

“It’s not a bombing or an attack. It was a tragic accident,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel arrived at the scene of the explosion at a luxury hotel in Havana and announced on Twitter.

The luxury hotel explosion occurred when Cuba was trying to revive the tourism industry after the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the impact of the war in Ukraine.

Cuban National Health Minister José Ángel Portal told AP that hospitals had received about 40 injured people, but estimated the number could rise as the search continues for those who may be trapped in the pile. Demolition at the scene of the hotel explosion.

Granma reported that local officials confirmed 13 people were missing after an explosive explosion in the Cuban capital. An elementary school next to the hotel was evacuated and local media said no children were injured.

A witness told Reuters news agency that smoke and flames were coming from the hotel.

Police, staff fire fight and rescue was deployed at the site of the hotel explosion, about 110 meters from Cuba’s National Assembly building. The hotel that has just experienced a strong explosion is regularly accommodated by many VIPs and political figures, including high-ranking US government delegations. Beyoncé and Jay Z stayed at the Saratoga Hotel during their visit to Cuba in 2013.

Reuters reports that Saratoga hotel has been arranged to reopen in four days, according to information from the hotel’s Facebook page.

Meanwhile, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will not cancel a trip to Cuba scheduled for May 8.