A luxury hotel that once hosted dignitaries and celebrities like Beyonce and Jay-Z, has exploded in a gas leak that killed at least 22 people.
Havana’s 96-room Hotel Saratoga has destroyed in a split second after the explosion on Friday, May 6 morning, which leaves 22 killed and as reported 64 injured including 14 minor injuries.
“Everything indicates that the explosion was caused by an accident,” the Cuban Presidential Office said in a tweet.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited the area on Friday and Hermanos Ameijeras hospital, where several victims of an explosion were admitted, and said that it was not a bomb nor an attack, it was a regrettable accident, after he returned from the site of the blast.
It was one of the most valuable hotels in the city, the 19th Century structure, and has 96 rooms. The hotel did not have any guests at the time because it was undergoing renovations ahead of a slant 2nd reopening.
The search team remained through the night. Workers operated the heavy machinery to lift the huge pieces of wall and trucks left the site loaded with rubble. Firefighters and rescue workers struggled inside the wreckage.
Rescuers refused to answers any questions as the authorities had ordered or disclosed any name of the deceased.
