MIAMI, United States.- The Hotel Saratoga, located in the Havana Prado, suffered an explosion this Friday and part of the exterior facade collapsed. So far no details are known of what could have caused the incident.
According to a publication by the Cuban Presidency in Twitter“the provincial director of Health, Emilio Delgado Iznaga, confirms that the health system in Havana is fully active.”
“So far eight people have died and thirty are hospitalized. Several people offer blood donations,” she adds.
According to a live broadcast from outside the Hotel, right in front of the Capitol, Angel Cuza He assured that ordinary Cubans themselves were the ones who saved some of the people who had been left under the rubble, and that the authorities arrived late at the scene. He also explained that the noise felt like a bomb.
Cuza, activist and human rights defender, assures that there are still people trapped in the Hotel, who are still being pulled out of the rubble. The activist, who narrated what is happening in real time, explains that ambulances and fire trucks continue to arrive, but that it is too late because many people have not yet been rescued.
The only official media that echoed the news so far is Cubadebatewhich cites witnesses from social networks and alludes to a tweet by Guerrero Cubano in which he says that the event presumably took place when liquefied gas was being transferred.
“Urgent: Strong explosion in #HotelSaratoga, Old Havana #Cuba. Presumably while transferring liquefied gas from a truck. There is serious damage and possible loss of life. We will continue to report on this,” Guerrero Cubano wrote.
According to Cubadebate, colleagues from Editora Abril said that the children from the school next to the hotel facility were evacuated. The Cuban ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel arrived at the place.
The note also ensures that “those injured in the explosion received immediate attention in nearby polyclinics and from Calixto our journalist Thalía Fuentes Puebla reports the arrival of at least 6 ambulances”
“Right now they are expanding the closure zone because there is a danger that the structure will collapse. The real causes of the explosion are still unknown”, point out the Cuban authorities.
News in development…
