Havana Hotel Explosion Havana: The death toll from a powerful explosion ripping a luxury hotel in downtown Havana climbed to 18, with more than 50 injured, official sources reported.
Julio Guerra, head of the Cuban Health Ministry's hospital services, confirmed the figure during a press conference.
Previous report said at least eight people have died and some 30 are hospitalized.
"The provincial director of health, Emilio Delgado Iznaga, confirms that the health system in Havana is fully active," the Cuban Presidential Office said in a tweet earlier on Friday, adding that "several people are offering blood donations."
A gas leak is thought to be the cause of the explosion at Hotel Saratoga, on Friday morning, according to the Cuban Presidential Office.
The five-star hotel, located near the National Capitol building, was preparing to reopen in the next few days as part of the revival of tourism industry on the island.
According to social media reports shared by the state media Cubadebate, the explosion apparently occurred while the facility was carrying out operations with liquefied gas.
After the explosion, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel went to the scene of the incident and to a local hospital in Havana, where several of the injured were being cared for, according to images published by the Cuban Presidential Office on its Twitter account.
(With UNI/Xinhua inputs)
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
