By: Staff Writer
May 10, 2022
Firefighters are searching the rubble of the Saratoga Hotel in the Cuban capital, Havana, after a huge blast ripped through the building on Friday.
At least 35 people were killed in the explosion, which is thought to have been caused by a gas tanker parked outside the hotel. The dead included four children and a pregnant woman.
Officials said 64 people were injured. At least 50 adults and 14 minors were injured and being treated at local hospitals after Friday’s explosion caused by a gas leak at the Hotel Saratoga, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The 96-room hotel was not open to the public, but there were workers preparing the property to reopen on May 10.
Rescuers continue to search through the rubble for survivors.
Workers pulled a gas truck from the crumbled structure that officials said was delivering natural gas to the hotel when the explosion happened.
According to Alexis Acosta Silva, the mayor of the Old Havana District, a cook in the kitchen smelled gas and then discovered a leak in the truck’s hose.
The explosion affected nearby buildings, including a school with about 300 students, officials said.
The Saratoga is one of Cuba’s most exclusive five-star hotels.
Representatives of Grupo de Turismo Gaviota SA, which owns the hotel, said during a news conference Saturday that 51 workers had been inside the hotel at the time, as well as two people working on renovations.
González said the cause of the blast was still under investigation, but a large crane hoisted a charred gas tanker from the hotel’s rubble early Saturday.
Search and rescue teams worked through the night and into Saturday, using ladders to descend through the rubble and twisted metal into the hotel’s basement as heavy machinery gingerly moved away piles of the building’s façade to allow access. Above, chunks of drywall dangled from wires, desks sat seemingly undisturbed inches from the void where the front of the building cleaved away.