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The death toll from Friday's explosion that reduced much of Saratoga to rubble, Havana's luxury hotel, rose yesterday Sunday to 31 dead, Cuba's health ministry said.
An earlier official count put the death toll at 30.
Twenty-four people remain hospitalized, according to the same source.
Firefighters and members of rescue teams were continuing searches yesterday to locate bodies in the wreckage of the neoclassical building in the old city.
The dead are 16 men and 14 women. Four of the victims were minors. A 29-year-old Spanish tourist was also killed as she was walking with her husband, who was badly injured. Much of the luxury hotel under renovation that was nearing completion - it was due to reopen tomorrow Tuesday - was destroyed.
Seven of the 24 injured are in critical condition, six others in serious condition and 11 less seriously.
The tourism ministry said on Saturday that 51 people were working inside the building when the explosion occurred, estimated to have been caused by a leak while the hotel was being refuelled by a tanker carrying liquefied natural gas. The first four floors suffered horrific damage.
The Saratoga, which had 96 rooms, two restaurants and a rooftop pool, an emblem of old Havana, had welcomed several celebrities in previous years, from Mick Jagger to Beyoncé and Madonna.
The building, erected in 1880 to house shops, was transformed into a hotel in 1993. It was renovated - becoming a five-star hotel - in 2005.
Source: APE-MPA
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