An explosion, which occurred this Friday morning around 10:50, has destroyed the Saratoga hotel in Old Havana. The residential building located on one side is seriously damaged, a nearby school lost its doors and windows.
A small shop on the ground floor of the hotel was reduced to rubble.
The causes of the event, which has destroyed several floors of the building, located very close to the Capitol, are unknown. The place Cubadebate echoes the official user in networks Cuban Warriorwho suggests that the explosion occurred “presumably while liquefied gas was being transferred from a truck” and anticipates that there are “possible loss of life”.
State Security deployed an operation to try to remove the hundreds of onlookers who were crowding the Parque de la India from the place, and several residents of the neighborhood reported the internet service being cut.
The area is one of the busiest in Havana, with several bus stops and a constant movement of people, many of them tourists. Around the affected building, in addition, there are numerous properties that are in a dire state. The detonation reached premises located several blocks away, such as on Monte Street, where broken glass was observed.
From the tall buildings of Nuevo Vedado, in the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución, where the noise was heard loudly, the flames and smoke could be seen, near the bay of the capital.
Instantly, sirens from firefighters and military vehicles sounded in the area.
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