Another body was removed Wednesday from the rubble of the Saratoga hotel of Havana, destroyed on Friday by a powerful explosion, raising the number of deaths in that tragedy to 44, local authorities reported.
“This joint work with all the forces has intensified” and “we were already able to rescue another person,” Colonel Luis Carlos Guzmán, head of the Fire Department, told Cuban state television. Cuba.
With the body recovered on Wednesday night, which has not yet been identified, there are already 44 deaths in this disaster, including four children and adolescents, a pregnant woman and a 29-year-old Spanish tourist.
“We only have one person left,” added Colonel Guzmán, stressing that the rescuers will keep working “uninterrupted” until they find her.
According to him Ministry of Public Health Cuban, the accident also left 54 injured, of which 16 remain hospitalized, including four minors in critical condition.
Roberto Enrique Calzadilla, delegate of the state company Gaviota, current owner of the hotel, said at a press conference on Saturday that at the time of the explosion there were 51 workers in the building, of which 13 were reported missing.
Last Friday, the Saratoga, located on the crowded Paseo del Prado in Old Havanaexploded at the end of the morning at a time when it was supplied with gas.
The emblematic five-star hotel had been closed for two years due to the pandemic and was preparing to reopen to the public this Tuesday. Its first four floors were destroyed.
Built in 1880 and converted into a hotel in 1933, the Saratoga it was known to have hosted several celebrities in recent years, including Mick Jagger, Beyoncé, and Madonna.
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