By AFP 12 May 2022 | 2:18 pm A gas explosion in Havana injured three people on Wednesday in the same neighbourhood as a similar blast that left 44 dead and destroyed an iconic hotel last week, authorities said. Members of the rescue brigade walk with their shovels as they work at the Saratoga Hotel days after a huge blast wrecked the building, in Havana, on May 11, 2022. – The death toll from an explosion at the luxury hotel in the old quarter of Havana has risen to 43. Crews continued to comb through the rubble of the Saratoga five-star hotel, which was being renovated and had no guests at the time of the late-morning blast last Friday that was seemingly caused by a gas leak. (Photo by Yamil LAGE / AFP) A gas explosion in Havana injured three people on Wednesday in the same neighbourhood as a similar blast that left 44 dead and destroyed an iconic hotel last week, authorities said. The victims were a father and son and a neighbour, local official Yamila Velazquez told state television. “The child’s father had flipped the switch and there was an explosion. A neighbour suffered injuries to her legs and arms,” Velazquez said, adding that the three victims were taken to a hospital by neighbours while the fire brigade cut off the neighbourhood’s gas supply. The latest explosion comes just five days after a much more powerful one at the Saratoga hotel, just 800 meters (yards) away in Havana’s old quarter, that killed 44 and injured 54. Rescuers found another body in the rubble at that hotel Wednesday evening, bringing the death toll up to 44 there. They are continuing to search through rubble at the hotel, whose first four floors were gutted by the explosion, which an official said happened while a gas tank was being refilled by a tanker truck. Authorities said only one person remained unaccounted for by Wednesday night and that the search continued “uninterrupted.” The blast tore off large parts of the facade, blew out windows and destroyed cars parked outside the hotel. Latest 14 mins ago The Association of African Universities (AAU) says Nigeria remains a strategic country that the association needs to work within realising its continental initiatives. 15 mins ago Trinity Chorale pulled classical music lovers from Lagos and beyond to UNILAG main auditorium recently to stage The Promise. INNOCENT ANORUO hazards a review of the show in which Guchi filled the audience and Olumide shone like Sirius. BY popular demand and to re-enact the passion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Lagos-based Trinity Chorale, conducted… 25 mins ago A firm, LinkPro Consult Integrated Limited, has planned to hold a hybrid meeting today for students and parents seeking to explore foreign education but finding the university application process cumbersome. 40 mins ago Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade, has ordered the immediate withdrawal of the certificate of recognition of the paramount ruler of Calabar South Local Government Area, Prof Itam Hogan Itam, for dabbling in partisan politics. 59 mins ago The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has denied endorsing former President Goodluck Jonathan, as its preferred candidate for the 2023 presidential election. A chieftain of the ACF, Alhaji Musa Saidu said this when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday. Saidu, also the leader of the Arewa community in South-South…
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