The death toll from the explosion that semi-destroyed the historic Hotel Saratoga in the center of Havana has further risen to 22 dead and over 50 injured.
This is what emerged from the latest provisional report released by Cuban state TV.
Rescuers are working to try to reach
various people who have been trapped under the rubble
, the broadcaster specified, adding that at least one woman is known for certain that she is alive.
Pending a definitive official version on the causes of the outbreak, the president of the republic Miguel Díaz-Canel issued a statement stating that "
it was not a bomb or an attack, but just an unfortunate accident"
.
The fear of a terrorist operation is due to the fact that various attacks took place in the Cuban capital in the 1990s.
In July 1997, explosives were placed in the Capri and Nacional hotels.
In both cases there was material damage, and three injured in the second hotel.
On 4 September of the same year it was the turn of the Chateau Miramar and Copacabana hotels, and of the Neptuno-Tritón hotel complex to be theaters of explosions.
In Copacabana, the 32-year-old Genoese entrepreneur Fabio Di Celmo lost his life.
Finally, on the night of that day, an explosive device also blew up in the La Bodeguita del Medio restaurant, lightly injuring three people.
