Death toll climbs to 27 in Cuba hotel explosion; nine people in critical condition
- The blast at the Saratoga Hotel in Havana, which has hosted celebrities such as Madonna and Mick Jagger, was due to a suspected gas leak, state TV reported
- Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel deplored the destruction and loss of life, while commending those Cubans who had rushed to donate blood for survivors
Rescuers combed through what remained of a luxury Havana hotel on Saturday, as the death toll after a powerful blast due to a suspected gas leak climbed to 27, authorities said.
No survivors were found in the upper floors of the prestigious Saratoga Hotel, and rescuers said they were now concentrating their efforts on the jumbled debris filling the two-level basement of the neoclassical building.
Authorities reported Saturday that 37 people had been hospitalised, down from an earlier number of 46.
With the search now turning toward the building’s basement levels – a woman’s cry for help was heard emanating from there on Friday afternoon – tons of debris have complicated the task.
“My daughter works in the Saratoga – she’s been there [under the rubble] since … yesterday morning, and in all this time I still don’t know anything,” an anguished Yaumara Cobas told journalists, adding that she had checked with a hospital and the morgue.
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Twitter that one Spanish tourist had died in the blast and another was seriously injured.
“All our love to their families and those of all the victims and injured. Our support also to the Cuban people,” he added.