Gas leak blamed for blast at iconic Havana hotel that killed 22
(VOVWORLD) - A deadly explosion hit a well-known hotel in downtown Havana on Friday, tearing a gash several floors high in the side of the building, killing at least 22 people and injuring upwards of 70, witnesses and state media said.
Speaking from the scene on Cuban television, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the blast at the historic, high-end Hotel Saratoga appeared to have been caused by a gas leak.
Cuba's tourism minister, Juan Carlos Garcia, said no foreigners were killed or injured in the blast, according to initial reports.
The hotel, housed in a more than century-old building, had been closed and only workers were inside at time of the explosion, state-run TV said, citing Roberto Enrique Calzadilla, a representative of the military-run company that operates many of the country's hotels.