At Least 8 Killed in Explosion at Historic Hotel in Cuban Capital Havana

At least eight people were killed and 30 more injured in an explosion at an under-renovation historic hotel in the Cuban capital of Havana Friday morning.

The blast that ripped away large sections of the outer wall at the Hotel Saratoga, a 19th century structure in Old Havana, apparently was due to a gas leak, according to the Twitter account of the office of President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who went to the site.

The Communist Party newspaper Granma said local officials reported 13 people missing.

Havana Gov. Reinaldo García Zapata said the hotel was in the process of renovations and no tourists were lodged there, Granma reported.

The Cuban news agency ACN published photos showing severe damage to the Hotel Saratoga in Havana and clouds of dust billowing into the sky.

Search and rescue work is ongoing at the hotel, where people may still be trapped. The hotel was reportedly undergoing some sort of construction or renovations at the time of the blast.

Rescuers work after an explosion in the Saratoga Hotel in Havana, on May 6, 2022. A powerful explosion destroyed part of a hotel under repair in Cuba’s capital.

A student told NBC News that the explosion woke him. “I was at home and heard a loud noise and I stood in my balcony and looked in that direction,” the student said in Spanish. “I thought it was coming from the store, but no, it came from Saratoga.”

“It was a large explosion. I felt it, I was asleep and it woke me,” he said.

The five-star Hotel Saratoga is heavily damaged after an explosion in Old Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 6, 2022.

The semiofficial website Cubadebate reported that nearby clinics were treating people who had been injured and that several ambulances had gone to the scene. It said a school next door had been evacuated.

The five-star, 96-room hotel in Old Havana has two bars, two restaurants and a rooftop pool, according to its website.

The hotel is also on the prohibited accommodations list for U.S. citizens, issued by the U.S. Department of State in 2020, according to NBC News. Previously, the premier hotel was frequented by U.S. celebrities.

Rescuers work after an explosion in the Saratoga Hotel in Havana, on May 6, 2022. A powerful explosion destroyed part of a hotel under repair in Cuba’s capital.

Yazira de la Caridad, mother of two, said the explosion shook her home a block from the hotel: “The whole building moved. I thought it was an earthquake,” she said. “I’ve still got my heart in my hand.”

Mayiee Pérez said she had rushed to the scene after receiving a call from her husband, Daniel Serra, who works at a foreign exchange shop inside the hotel. She said he told her, “I am fine, I am fine. They got us out,” but had been unable to reach him since.

The Associated Press and NBC News contributed to this report

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