Cuba hotel explosion: at least 22 dead in blast at Havana’s Hotel Saratoga

A large gas explosion has destroyed the Hotel Saratoga in downtown Havana, a favoured celebrity hangout.

Destruction at Hotel Saratoga after a powerful explosion in Havana, Cuba, on May 6.

A large gas explosion tore through an iconic hotel in downtown Havana on Friday, killing at least 22 people, injuring dozens more and destroying a large part of the building, according to Cuba’s government.

The Cuban presidency said 21 adults and one minor had died, and that 50 adults and 14 minors were injured and being treated at local hospitals.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who rushed to the scene along with other high-ranking officials, said a gas deposit at the hotel exploded. “This wasn’t a bomb or an attack, it was a lamentable accident, ” he said. “Our most heartfelt condolences...to the families and those close to the victims.” Havana Gov. Reinaldo García Zapata said the Hotel Saratoga, a five-story neoclassical building, was undergoing repairs and that there were no tourists inside, state-run newspaper Granma reported. Tourism Minister Juan Carlos Garcia said the hotel had been scheduled to reopen on May 10, the newspaper said.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel (C) visits a child wounded during the explosion.

Photographs and videos posted on social media showed smoke rising from the blown-out shell of the hotel, which sits across from the Capitolio, Cuba’s old congressional building modeled after the U.S. Capitol.

One video showed rescue workers digging through debris to pull a victim out. It also showed two survivors stuck on the third floor of the building, which had most of its facade blown away.

The Saratoga had been remodeled in recent years as Cuba sought to attract tourists as part of its attempt to reshape its economy. A luxury hotel, it boasts a swimming pool on its roof.

“It was quite a favorite among international celebrities. Mick Jagger stayed there, Beyoncé and Jay-Z stayed there when they went to Cuba, ” said Cynthia Carris Alonso, an author who has published several books about the Caribbean country.

A hotel sign amid the rubble.

“This is a tragedy obviously for the people who lost their lives. It’s also a tragedy for Cuba because they are suffering right now from such a lack of tourism due to the pandemic, the U.S. embargo,” she added.

Cuba was also hit last summer by a wave of protests by people struggling to deal with widespread shortages, prompting heavy-handed measures in response from the government.

The Saratoga Hotel building dates from 1880, and by 1935 was considered one of the best in the city, said Granma. It was nationalized in the 1960s, and housed people from the neighborhood until it was totally abandoned due to its deteriorated state, the state-run newspaper said. It was restored and again opened its doors as a five-star hotel in 2005.

A house damaged by the huge blast that wrecked the neighbouring Hotel Saratoga.

Pedro Freyre, a Miami-based lawyer, said the hotel was the gathering place for Cuban Americans who attended President Barack Obama’s historic 2016 speech in Havana, which proved the high-water mark in the short-lived rapprochement between the U.S. and Cuba engineered by Mr. Obama during his second term in office. “We would gather to debrief and talk over events over Cuban coffee,” said Mr. Freyre.

The brief thaw between the two Cold War adversaries came to an end with the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency later that year.

Anthony Harrup contributed to this article.

The Wall Street Journal.