Death toll rises to 18, another 74 injured after explosion at famous lodging in downtown Havana, Hotel Saratoga, which officials say was caused by gas leak
A deadly explosion hit a well-known hotel in downtown Havana, tearing a gash several floors high in the side of the building, killing at least 18 people and sending 74 more to hospital, witnesses and state media said.
Speaking from the scene on Cuban television, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the blast at the historic Hotel Saratoga appeared to have been caused by a gas leak. "In no case was it a bomb or an attack," he told on Friday as he left the capital's Calixto Garcia hospital, where many of the injured were treated.The blast nonetheless sent a brief wave of panic through the historic old Havana neighborhood, which has gradually begun reopening to tourists after the pandemic battered the Caribbean island's crucial travel sector.
Hundreds of Cubans and tourists alike gathered near the property under a hot sun as police cordoned off the area around the hotel. Many speculated about the cause of the blast as ambulances and rescue workers carried victims from the wreckage.
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