18 Dead after Explosion Rips through Five-Star Hotel Saratoga in Havana

A massive explosion that demolished part of the Hotel Saratoga, a luxury hotel in Havana's historic centre, and injured several people killed eighteen people, including a toddler and a pregnant woman, according to Cuban authorities.

The explosion, which occurred at 11 a.m., sent a plume of smoke and ash into the air, shocking passersby in one of the city's busiest areas.

As search and rescue efforts continued into the evening, the death toll rose from four-six. Cuban President Miguel Dáz-Canel announced the deaths of nine people in the afternoon. The death toll of the explosion had increased to 18 by evening, according to the presidential office.

A pregnant mother and a kid are among the victims. No further information regarding their identities was released. 50 people and 14 children were admitted to hospitals, according to the presidential administration.

Daz-Canel told reporters gathered at the scene in the afternoon that preliminary findings point to a gas leak.

He stated that the explosion was neither a bomb or an attack; it was a sad accident.

Dáz-Canel and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero paid visits to some of the hospitals where the victims were being treated. According to a ministry of education official, five children were injured, three of them were from a nearby school that was evacuated. According to the director of the Central Havana Children's Hospital, an 11-year-old girl received head injuries and was admitted to the intensive care unit.

The hotel was believed to be empty because of maintenance, according to Cuban state media. After being closed for two years owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the hotel was set to reopen on May 10.

Following the explosion, it was unclear whether the structure, which was completed in 1880, could be saved.

The six-story building had substantial damage to multiple stories, but it was still intact, according to images and videos. Walls and windows were blown out on three floors, and a store on the ground floor was reduced to ruins.

Several videos shared to social media show hundreds of people, including police and fire officers, rushing to the scene. Videos show inpiduals attempting to rescue someone caught in the rubble before the police could seal off the area.

According to photographs obtained by independent news outlet 14ymedio, a Baptist church near to the hotel also lost its roof. The blast also seriously damaged two residential buildings, according to Daz-Canel.

The 19th-century structure was refurbished and reopened as a five-star luxury hotel in 2005, with distinctive architecture and just steps from Central Park and the Cuban Capitol. When President Barack Obama visited Cuba in 2016, several Cuban Americans and business leaders stayed there.