- Intensifying to Category 5, Hurricane Milton targets Florida
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace
- Dupont set for Toulouse return after post-Olympic holiday
- French rugby bosses tighten discipline after nightmare Argentina tour
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Visitors to get rare view of Rome's Trevi Fountain
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Man City and Premier League both claim victory in legal case
- Deschamps delight as 'light back on' for Pogba after doping ban
- Biden, Harris urge Mideast peace on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff's Ajax and Dutch teams
- UN warns world's water cycle becoming ever more erratic
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- Ex-Dutch football star Johan Neeskens dies
- Man Utd battling to improve fortunes, says Evans
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Masood, Abdullah centuries lift Pakistan to 328-4 in first England Test
- Hurricane Milton strengthens fast, threatens Mexico, Florida
- Tunisia's President Saied set for landslide election win
- Barca hoping to return to Camp Nou 'by end of year'
- Trump to open second golf course at Scotland resort in summer 2025
- Super-sub Jhon Duran rewarded with new Aston Villa deal
- US duo win Nobel for gene regulation breakthrough
- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Artist Marina Abramovic hopes first China show offers tech respite
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
- Israel marks first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack
- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
RIO | 0.09% | 69.761 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.2% | 24.65 | $ | |
NGG | -1.06% | 65.8 | $ | |
GSK | 0.24% | 38.915 | $ | |
AZN | -0.14% | 77.36 | $ | |
SCS | -0.31% | 12.93 | $ | |
RBGPF | -1.97% | 58.94 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.45% | 6.88 | $ | |
BTI | -0.1% | 35.255 | $ | |
BCC | 0.79% | 140.01 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.784 | $ | |
BCE | -0.25% | 33.625 | $ | |
VOD | 0.41% | 9.7 | $ | |
BP | 1.07% | 33.235 | $ | |
RELX | -0.5% | 46.06 | $ | |
JRI | -0.23% | 13.25 | $ |
Rescuers comb through Havana hotel blast rubble, death toll climbs to 26
Rescuers combed through what remained of a luxury Havana hotel Saturday, as the death toll after a powerful blast due to a suspected gas leak climbed to 26, authorities said.
No survivors were found in the upper floors of the prestigious Saratoga Hotel and rescuers said they were now concentrating their efforts on the jumbled debris filling the two-level basement of the neoclassical building.
Authorities reported Saturday that 46 people had been hospitalized. There was meanwhile some confusion after a Red Cross official gave a death toll of 32, but the higher number was later reported to be "an error."
The hotel had been closed for business during renovation work, and many victims of Friday's explosion were either construction workers or hotel employees preparing for its reopening.
But one Spanish man -- a 29-year-old tourist who had been walking nearby -- died in the blast.
So far, 11 hotel employees have been identified among the dead, 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 included four children and adolescents. More than a dozen of those hospitalized were listed in critical or serious condition.
With the search now turning toward the building's basement levels -- a woman's cry for help was heard emanating from there on Friday afternoon -- tons of smoking debris have complicated the task.
"My daughter works in the Saratoga -- she's been there (under the rubble) since... yesterday morning, and in all this time I still don't know anything," an anguished Yaumara Cobas told journalists, adding that she had checked with a hospital and the morgue.
"We've got to push on," said longtime 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 all the victims and injured. Our support also to the Cuban people," he added.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel deplored the loss of life in a Twitter message, while commending those Cubans who had rushed to donate blood for survivors.
"Solidarity has prevailed. #FuerzaCuba," he added.
Officials from the United States, Canada, the European Union, China, Russia and Venezuela 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 tore off large parts of the facade, blew out windows and destroyed cars parked outside the five-star hotel, which has in the past hosted celebrities such as Madonna, Beyonce, Mick Jagger and Rihanna.
The dome of a nearby Baptist church also collapsed.
With the hotel's renovations nearly complete, its reopening had been scheduled for next Tuesday.
Ambulances and fire trucks rushed to the scene Friday and police cordoned off the area, dispersing people who swarmed to the hotel near Havana's emblematic National Capitol Building, which housed Congress prior to the Cuban revolution.
The Saratoga was built in 1880 to house shops. It was converted into a hotel in 1933 and was renovated as a luxury establishment in 2005.
P.Stevenson--AMWN