© Reuters. Debris is scattered across the floor after an explosion at the Saratoga Hotel in Havana, Cuba, on May 6, 2022. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
2/2
Dave Sherwood
Havana (Reuters) – A massive explosion hit a prominent hotel in central Havana on Friday, tearing a multi-layered wound on the side of the building and injuring at least one person, witnesses and local media said. . country of Cuba.
Photos from the Communist Party’s official daily Grama show photos of the multi-story Saratoga hotel, whose walls were apparently blown away by the explosion. It is not yet clear what caused the explosion.
A Reuters witness saw smoke and flames billowing from the building. Police and rescue workers swarmed the scene, cordoning off key points and nearby buildings, including the historic Capitolio building.
A photo from the scene showed what appeared to be at least one body on stage, covered with a white cloth.
Renovated by a British company after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the hotel has been considered a place for government officials and celebrities to visit for many years. Recently, with the opening of a new hotel in Havana, it has lost some of its luster, but is still a five-star hotel.
According to its Facebook page (Nasdaq: ), the hotel is ready to reopen within four days of the pandemic.
(Additional reporting by Marc Frank; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Alistair Bell)