A deadly bomber struck shortly afternoon in front of a popular hotel in the town of Havana on Friday, killing at least 22 people and injuring more than 70, an eyewitness said.Speaking at the scene on Cuban television, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the explosion of the historic hotel, Saratoga, appeared to have been caused by a gas leak.
“It has never been a bomb or an attack,” he later told Reuters as he left the hospital in the capital Calixto Garcia, where most of the injured were being treated. “It’s a very serious accident.” The blast, however, sent a wave of panic into the old Havana area, which has begun to open slightly for tourists after the epidemic hit an important tourism industry on a Caribbean island.
Hundreds of Cubans and tourists alike gathered near the site under the scorching sun as police closed the area around the hotel. Many speculated about the cause of the explosion as ambulances and rescue workers carried victims from the crash. The blast hit a nearby school with more than 300 pupils, health officials said. At least 15 children have been reported injured since Friday evening, the health department said, with one child dead.
Cuba’s tourism minister, Juan Carlos Garcia, said no foreign nationals were killed or injured in the blast, according to initial reports.The hotel, which had been living in the building for more than a century, was closed and there were only staff inside during the explosion, state television said, quoting Roberto Enrique Calzadilla, representing a military-owned company operating in several locations. country hotels.
In an interview, Calzadilla said the 96-room hotel would be reopened in the next few days and that staff at the venue were making final preparations.He also said gas leaks appear to be the cause.”The staff was repairing and doing all the work of opening the premises and in the morning they were refueling and it appeared that some accident had caused an explosion,” he said. The eruption covered the building and surrounding streets with black smoke and dust rising from the debris.
Police and paramedics rushed to the scene and surrounded the nearby government buildings, including the historic Capitolio, or main building.A photograph taken at the scene showed what appeared to be at least one body and a white cloth over it. After the explosion, a man was carrying a woman screaming in pain and taking her to the clinic, as onlookers asked for information about loved ones.
The neoclassical style hotel Saratoga was renovated by a British company after the collapse of the Soviet Union and for many years was considered a place to stay by visiting government officials and celebrities.Recently, it had lost its light with the opening of new hotels in Havana, but it was still a five-star venue.
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