In the News May 10

Tragic Accident at Havana Hotel

Heroic Efforts to Rescue Victims of Explosion

President Miguel Diaz-Canel and other government officials assist in the coordination of rescue efforts.

Just before 11:00 am on Friday, May 6, a massive explosion rocked the historic Hotel Saratoga in the heart of Old Havana. There were no guests staying at the hotel which was being readied to open on May 10 after an extended period of closure during the pandemic. However 51 employees and two outside renovators were working at the hotel, getting it ready.

The blast instantly brought down the outer walls of the lobby, first, second and third floors of the six-floor building, sending tons of deadly rubble into lower levels of the structure and the streets around the hotel. Parts of the interior infrastructure also fell away or collapsed. Preliminary investigation indicates the explosion was an accident, attributed to a gas leak that occurred as a fuel tanker laden with liquified natural gas was servicing the hotel.

The first rescue attempts were undertaken by people who happened to be on the scene and jumped into action. They were soon relieved by firefighters, paramedics and other emergency crews trained to respond to disasters. Not long after, President Miguel Diaz-Canel and other government officials arrived to assist in the coordination of rescue efforts and getting the injured to nearby hospitals and attended to as efficiently as possible.

In response to an emergency callout by the Federation of University Students and the Union of Young Communists, many youth and students along with others immediately made their way to provincial blood banks to donate blood for those who had been injured.

As of 11:30 am on Tuesday, May 10, Cuba’s Ministry of Public Health reported the number of confirmed deaths had risen to 42. In addition, 96 people suffered injuries, some critical, with 17 people still hospitalized. Several of those who were killed or injured were not inside the hotel but on the street outside, or inside adjacent buildings where part of the infrastructure also collapsed due to the explosion. An around-the-clock search and rescue/recovery operation continues for a number of people who remain unaccounted for.

A report by the governor of Havana, Reinaldo García, indicated that 23 adjacent and nearby buildings – including a school and 17 private dwellings – also suffered damage as a result of the blast.

TML Daily, posted May 10, 2022.