Saratoga Hotel: Eighteen dead after huge explosion in Havana
Source: BBC
6 May 2022
At least 18 people have died and more than 60 have been hospitalised after a massive explosion rocked one of Cuba's most exclusive five-star hotels.
The blast at the Saratoga Hotel in Old Havana on Friday appears to have been caused by a gas leak, according to local officials.
The historic five-storey building was set for a post-pandemic reopening in four days.
It now lies in ruins, with much of its outer wall torn off.
Search and rescue operations are currently underway to locate people trapped under the debris.
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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-61358186
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By Simran Kashyap
| Published: Saturday, May 7, 2022, 9:19 [IST]
Havana, May 7: A powerful explosion apparently caused by a natural gas leak killed at least 22 people, including a child, and injured dozens when it blew away outer walls from a luxury hotel in the heart of Cuba's capital.
. . .
Cuban state TV reported the explosion was caused by a truck that had been supplying natural gas to the hotel, but did not provide details on how the gas ignited. A white tanker truck was seen being removed from the site as rescue workers hosed it down with water.
The blast sent smoke billowing into the air around the hotel with people on the street staring in awe, one saying "Oh my God," and cars honking their horns as they sped away from the scene, video showed. It happened as Cuba is struggling to revive its key tourism sector that was devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Cuba's national health minister, José Ángel Portal, told The Associated Press the number of injured could rise as the search continues for people who may be trapped in the rubble of the 19th century structure in the Old Havana neighbourhood of the city. "We are still looking for a large group of people who may be under the rubble," Lt. Col. Noel Silva of the Fire Department said.
More:
https://www.oneindia.com/international/havana-explosion-death-toll-climbs-to-22-scores-injured-after-blast-in-5-star-hotel-saratoga-3405053.html
Last edited Sat May 7, 2022, 05:36 PM - Edit history (1)
Rescue work continues at the disaster site in search of survivors, while work continues
to remove debris. May. 07, 2022. | Photo: Prensa Latina
Published 7 May 2022 (5 hours 23 minutes ago)
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged on Saturday the work of the rescue and rescue teams. However, the death toll has risen to 32 as three more have been found.
The death toll from the explosion at Cuba's Saratoga hotel rose to 32 on Saturday, Orestes Llánez, coordinator of the Havana government, informed the local press media.
According to this report, rescue work continues at the disaster site in search of survivors, while work continues to remove debris.
Within the framework of the rescue work, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel highlighted the work of the rescue and salvage forces at the Saratoga Hotel in Cuba, after the accident that caused the partial collapse of the facility on Friday.
More:
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Update-Death-Toll-Rises-at-Havanas-Saratoga-Hotel-Cuba--20220507-0005.html
Source: Associated Press
Havana hotel toll rises to 30; dogs search for survivors
By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ
May 8, 2022
HAVANA (AP) — Search crews with dogs on Sunday hunted through the ruins of a luxury hotel in Cuba’s capital for survivors of a devastating explosion while officials raised the number of known dead to 30.
The Hotel Saratoga, a five-star 96-room hotel in Old Havana, was preparing to reopen after being closed for two years when an apparent gas leak ignited, blowing the outer walls into the busy, midmorning streets just a block from the country’s Capitol building on Friday.
Cuban officials on Sunday raised the known death toll to 30 from 27 even as crews continued to search for victims buried beneath piles of shattered concrete. Several nearby structures also were damaged, including the historic Marti Theater and the Calvary Baptist Church, headquarters for the denomination in western Cuba.
The church said on its Facebook page that the building suffered “significant structural damage, with several collapsed or cracked walls and columns (and) the ceiling partially collapsed,” though no church workers were hurt.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/covid-business-health-explosions-cuba-6514f487aa8e789f8bb7947c44de02eb
Rescuers search for survivors at the site of Friday's deadly explosion that destroyed the five-star Hotel Saratoga, in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, May 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Rescue teams remove debris from the site of a deadly explosion that destroyed the five-star Hotel Saratoga, in Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 6, 2022. A powerful explosion apparently caused by a natural gas leak killed at least 18 people, including a pregnant woman and a child, and injured dozens Friday when it blew away outer walls from the luxury hotel in the heart of Cuba’s capital. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A rescue worker walks away from the destroyed five-star Hotel Saratoga after searching through the rubble days after a deadly explosion in Old Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, May 10, 2022. An apparent gas leak ignited on Friday, May 6. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
By ASSOCIATED PRESS |
PUBLISHED: May 10, 2022 at 5:40 p.m. | UPDATED: May 10, 2022 at 5:40 p.m.
By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ
HAVANA (AP) — The elegant Hotel Saratoga was supposed to reopen in Havana on Tuesday after a two-year pandemic break. Instead, it was a day of mourning for the 43 people known to have died in an explosion that ripped the building apart.
Emergency workers continued to hunt through the ruins for other victims as experts began to consider the fate of 19th century building, a former warehouse that had been converted into hotel early in the last century.
Roberto Enriquez, a spokesman for the military-owned Gaviota tourism company that operates the Saratoga, said experts’ initial estimates are that 80% of the hotel was damaged by Friday’s explosion, which hurled tons of concrete chunks into the busy streets just a block from the country’s Capitol and seriously harmed neighboring structures.
He said that when rescue efforts finish, authorities would look more deeply into what to do with the structure.
More:
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/05/10/cuba-hotel-blast-toll-rises-to-43-most-hotel-workers/
