The five-star Saratoga hotel has a total of 96 rooms. The Cuban Presidency has reported that preliminary investigations indicate that the explosion was caused by a gas leak.
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Euskaraz irakurri: Leherketa batek 8 hildako eta 13 desagertu utzi ditu Habanako Saratoga hotelean
An explosion that occurred this Friday at the Saratoga hotel in Old Havana (Cuba) has left at least eight dead, 13 missing and 40 hospitalized, as confirmed by the Cuban Presidency. The deflagration has destroyed several floors of the building, located very close to the Capitol.
Saratoga Hotel, five star, is practically one hundred years old, although its current stage began in December 2005, when it reopened its doors. It has a total of 96 rooms, as stated on its website.
The explosion has caused collapse of part of the facade of the building, also affected by a fire that has generated a large column of white smoke, visible from much of the city.
The bass, the first and second floor of the building -of six heights- have been seriously affected by the explosion, which has knocked down the facade, causing a rain of rubble on the street. The mountain of debris on the sidewalk exceeds the height of a person. The upper floors have also suffered damage.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the explosion was caused by a gas leak.
There will be more details on this soon. pic.twitter.com/IdeWdksCBb– Cuba Presidency ¿ (@PresidenciaCuba) May 6, 2022
The Presidency of Cuba has reported through its account on the social network Twitter that preliminary investigations indicate that the explosion was caused by a gas leakage and has advanced that it will give more details about the event “soon”.
The President of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel, has traveled to the scene of the event, accompanied by the Cuban Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, and the President of the National Assembly of Cuba, Esteban Lazo. The Cuban Presidency has released photographs in which the president can be seen at the scene of the events through social networks.
For his part, the Cuban Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda, has affirmed that there are no foreigners among the wounded reported for the accidental explosion.
Minister of Tourism @JuannCarlosGG
“There are no foreigners injured and we still do not have preliminary data on the number of injured tourism colleagues” pic.twitter.com/lMYZUXKq9J— Cubadebate (@cubadebatecu) May 6, 2022
The Saratoga is housed in a neoclassical-style building built in 1880 and operating as a hotel since 1933. The hotel was considered one of the most luxurious in the city.
The establishment is located in the Paseo del Prado, one of the main avenues of Old Havana, in the historic center of the Cuban capital.
Jose Goitia, a journalist from Iparralde who has been in Havana for 30 years, explained to ETB that he was on his way to a store when he witnessed the explosion. He has stated that firefighters have arrived at the scene “quickly”, and that “there was a lot of smoke”.
The Basque journalist believes that the reaction of the people has been interesting. Goitia considers that Cuban citizens still remember the 1997 attacks. He assures that this was the comment made in a taxi, but “immediately they realized” that it was not an attack. “Clearly, it is not an attack”, he has settled.
Source: Eitb
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