RESCUERS combed through the remains of a luxury hotel in Havana, Cuba, yesterday, as the death toll after a big blast due to a suspected gas leak hits 27, said authorities.

Rescuers did not find any survivors in the upper floors of Saratoga Hotel, and said they are now concentrating efforts on debris filling the two-level basement of the neoclassical building.

Authorities yesterday reported that 37 people are hospitalised, down from the earlier count of 46.

Meanwhile, there is some confusion after a Red Cross official gave a death toll of 32, but this was later reported to be “an error”.

The prestigious hotel was closed for business during renovation work, and many victims of the explosion are either construction workers or hotel employees preparing for its reopening.

But a 29-year-old Spanish tourist, who was walking nearby, died in the blast.

Eleven hotel employees are identified among the dead so far, said Roberto Enriquez Calzadilla, a spokesman for the state-run tourism group Gaviota, which operates the hotel.

He said the explosion happened while a gas tank was being refilled by a tanker truck.

A cry for help

Officials said the dead include four adolescents and children. More than a dozen of those hospitalised are listed in critical or serious condition.

The search now turns towards the basement levels of the building – a woman’s cry for help is heard emanating from there on Friday afternoon – as tonnes of smoking debris complicate the task.

“My daughter works in the Saratoga. She has been there (under the rubble) since… yesterday morning, and in all this time I still do not know anything,” an anguished Yaumara Cobas told journalists, adding that she has checked with a hospital and the morgue.

“We have got to push on,” said long-time Politburo member Ramiro Valdes, a veteran of the Cuban revolution.

“Some of our comrades could still be down there – alive.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the Spanish tourist’s death on Twitter and offered condolences to survivors and their families.

“All our love to their families and those of the victims and injured. Our support also to the Cuban people.”

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel deplored the loss of life on Twitter, while commending those who rushed to donate blood for survivors.

“Solidarity has prevailed. #FuerzaCuba,” he tweeted.

Canada, China, the European Union, Russia, Venezuela and United States officials sent messages of condolence.

Days before reopening

The first four floors of the establishment, which were closed to guests while being renovated, were gutted in the late-morning blast that sent dust and smoke billowing into the air.

The explosion blew out windows, tore off large parts of the façade and destroyed cars parked outside the five-star hotel, which had hosted celebrities such as Beyonce, Madonna, Mick Jagger and Rihanna.

The dome of a nearby Baptist church also collapsed.

With the renovations nearly complete, its reopening was scheduled for next Tuesday.

The Saratoga was built in 1880 to house shops. It was converted into a hotel in 1933 and renovated as a luxury establishment in 2005. – AFP, May 8, 2022.