It was reported that 25 of the dead have been identified and their families have already been contacted
Takenfrom EFE
The death toll from the explosion at the Saratoga Hotel in Havana on Saturday rose to 26, including a Spanish tourist, Cuban authorities said.
The first secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba in Havana, Luis Antonio Torres, specified that 25 of the dead have been identified and their families have already been contacted.
Among the victims are four children and a pregnant woman; and most of the deceased are from Havana, three from Holguín (east), one from Matanzas (west), added the source cited by the local newspaper Tribuna de La Habana.
It was also reported that a Spanish tourist died in the incident and another tourist of the same nationality was among the injured reported as "very serious", according to sources from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs who spoke to Efe.
The number of injured totals 64: 50 adults and 14 minors.
Throughout the night, the work of clearing debris and rescue continued at the site of the accident, under strict security measures, due to the risk of further landslides.
The incident occurred minutes before 11 a.m., when a liquefied gas tanker was filling a hotel storage tank. The most likely cause of the explosion is a gas leak.
The explosion caused a section of the seven-story building to collapse, and the facade of the first three floors to break off, sending debris tumbling down onto the sidewalk. The tanker truck was partially buried.
The explosion caused a large plume of white smoke, which was visible across much of the capital.
Firefighters, police officers, and emergency teams quickly arrived at the scene and transported the injured to several hospitals. A nearby school was evacuated.
A group of specialists then began clearing the area in search of possible victims trapped in the building, tasks that continued until nightfall.
The Saratoga is housed in a neoclassical building constructed in 1880, which has operated as a hotel since 1911. Its last renovation took place in 2005, according to official sources.
With five stars, the hotel is considered one of the most luxurious in the city. It is located on the Paseo del Prado, one of the main avenues of Old Havana, in the historic center of the Cuban capital.
