Four days after an accidental explosion ripped through the iconic Saratoga hotel in Havana, capital of Cuba, leaving at least 42 dead, rescuers continue this Tuesday looking for victims under the rubble.
“It’s sad because there is a very large number of deceased,” says actor Tehrán Aguilar, 46, who has become a volunteer rescuer with his white helmet and a black and yellow suit.
Popular for the telenovela “Historias de Fuego”, where he played the role of a firefighter, Aguilar adds: “It’s sad, because that way of dying is always painful, for a human being, because there are children involved too, even deceased,” he explains.
Hugging Yomy, her panting rescue dog, a 12-year-old Labrador, Edel Llopiz (48) believes that “I have given my contribution, along with my dog, who has been a great protagonist in this battle and in this pain that our country has “.
“I hope that the country gets up, that we are going to get up, of that we are sure, that we are going to get up,” says the specialist in canine technique.
“It’s something shocking, because I’ve never seen anything like this, but hey, we’re there, trying to stand out and give the family (consolation) so that they have their relatives,” says Raúl León, obituary services assistant. (53), shocked despite being a man used to dealing with pain and death.
On Friday the 6th in the morning, the luxurious hotel in Old Havana was in the last preparations to reopen four days later after two years of closure due to the covid-19 pandemic. About 50 workers were there while a tanker truck supplied gas to the establishment.
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion and a gigantic cloud of dust in the air. The first four floors of the building are razed and the blast wave throws debris on the crowded Paseo del Pradowhere it is located.
“We felt that explosion that was the greatest thing in life. I’m still in shock,” said María Victoria Salomón, 60, a teacher at a school near the Saratoga hotel.
With a cracked voice and moist eyes, Nairobi Evora (36) does her job of coordinating specialized emergency ambulances to transport the injured to hospitals.
“It touches me closely, because my mother worked for many years here (in the Saratoga Hotel). Many of her colleagues died and nothing, what I have to do is be here and do my bit. We couldn’t save all of them, but many were saved,” she says.
In his Cuban Red Cross uniform, Inti Guevara (50 years old) has been in the place for several days.
“We are going to be here until the last moment, let them say that there are no more victims (…) that is the hope, that even if it is the last (victim), we can get her out alive,” he said.
Until noon on Tuesday, the balance of the tragedy accounted for 42 deaths, including 4 children, and 54 injured people, of which 17 are still hospitalized.
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