HAVANA — The death toll after an explosion ripped
through a luxury hotel in central
Havana climbed to 25 people including a
Spanish tourist, state television reported Saturday, one day after the powerful
blast due to a suspected gas leak.
اضافة اعلان
Rescuers were still combing through what remained of the
prestigious Saratoga Hotel looking for survivors. On Friday, officials had said
up to 50 people were wounded in the blast.
"Tragic news has reached us from Cuba. A Spanish
tourist has died and another Spanish citizen is seriously injured after the
explosion at the Saratoga Hotel," Spanish Prime Minister
Pedro Sanchez
said on Twitter.
"All our love to their families and those of all the
victims and injured. Our support also to the Cuban people," he added.
The search is now focusing on the interior of the hotel and
the basement, the television station said.
"It is very regrettable what happened, the destruction,
especially the loss of life, and also the people injured, but once again I want
to highlight the speed with which the population and institutions
mobilized,"
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel tweeted.
"Solidarity has prevailed.
#FuerzaCuba," he added,
alluding to the many Cubans who rushed on Friday to donate blood to help the
wounded.
The first four floors of the establishment, which were
closed to guests while being renovated, were gutted in the late-morning blast
that sent a cloud of dust and smoke billowing into the air Friday.
The explosion also tore off large parts of the facade, blew
out windows and destroyed cars parked outside the five-star hotel, which has in
the past hosted celebrities such as Madonna, Beyonce, Mick Jagger, and Rihanna.
The dome of a nearby Baptist church also collapsed.
Inside the hotel at the time were employees preparing for
its post-refurbishment reopening, which had been scheduled for next Tuesday.
Roberto Calzadilla of state company Gaviota, which owns the
hotel, said the explosion happened while a gas tank was being refilled.
Ambulances and fire trucks rushed to the scene Friday and
police cordoned off the area, dispersing people who swarmed to the hotel near
Havana's emblematic National Capitol Building, which housed Congress prior to
the Cuban revolution.
The upmarket Saratoga Hotel has 96 rooms, two bars, two
restaurants, a spa and a gym.
It was built in 1880 to house shops and converted into a
hotel in 1933.
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