A powerful explosion rocked Hotel Saratoga Cuba on Friday morning, killing at least eight people and sending survivors scrambling for safety as authorities raced to rescue those trapped in the rubble, reports said.
This blast injured a total of 30 people, according to reports from CNN and the Cuban presidential office.
In a tweet, Cuban President Raul Castro suggested that a “liquefied gas explosion” may have been the culprit, but no further details were given.
In a tweet, the office stated that “everything points to an accident.” Parking lots in Havana’s downtown were leveled by the blast, according to CNN, which destroyed cars and buses.
The blast leveled at least three floors and the facade of the 1930s-era hotel, according to the news station.
In an interview with NBC, a student who lives in the city said that he was woken up by the blast.
Student: “I was at home and heard a loud noise, and I stood on my balcony and looked in that direction,” he said. In terms of size, it was a big bang. I was asleep when I felt it, and it woke me up.”
On its website, the hotel describes itself as a “luxurious neoclassical architecture style” hotel located in Old Havana’s Paseo del Prado. Refurbished and reopened in 2005, the facility was reopened in 2005.