Explosion at Hotel Saratoga, Old Havana

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC) learned with sadness the news of the accidental explosion that devastated the Saratoga Hotel, in Havana, on May 6, causing a significant number of losses and injuries, as well as considerable damage.

The WHC expresses its most sincere condolences to the families of the victims, to the injured and to all Cubans.

“To address this terrible accident, we stand alongside the Cuban people and the Cuban authorities, ready to support appropriate diagnostic, rehabilitation and conservation actions,” said Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Director of World Heritage.

The Saratoga Hotel, an emblematic establishment of the Cuban capital, was built in 1880 and is one of the important architectural monuments of the "Old City of Havana and its system of fortifications", property inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1982.