The initial investigation shows that the explosion was the result of a gas leak, the Cuban authorities report. President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez is on the scene, along with Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz.
Luxury hotel Saratoga is located about 100 meters from the parliament building in Havana. According to the city’s governor, there were no tourists at the hotel when the explosion occurred; the property was renovated.
The building has, according to the site of the Communist Party newspaper Granma a glorious past. Dating back to the late 1800s, it was initially a department store for a Spanish merchant. This makes it older than the nearby parliament building. In the 1930s, it became an attraction for wealthy tourists as an accommodation. Politicians also made regular use of it.
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