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According to images circulating on social networks, the president is in the area accompanied by National People’s Power Assembly President Esteban Lazo.
According to a Prensa Latina team on site, the façade was destroyed and five floors of the hotel were devastated.
Ambulances are providing first aid to the victims and the loss of human life is presumed.
Forces from the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) are keeping the place cordoned off and several fire trucks provide support in the relief work in the area of Old Havana, where smoke is still visible.
The first secretary of the Communist Party in Havana, Luis Antonio Torres Iribar, gave the information, which was published on the website of the Presidency of the Republic.
Vice Governor Yanet Hernandez confirmed to the media that the causes of the incident are still being investigated in depth and confirmed that the injured are being transferred to the Calixto Garcia hospital, in Plaza de la Revolucion municipality.
Several of the floors of the emblematic hotel lost their façades on Prado and Dragones streets, and a nearby building also underwent severe damage, according to a Prensa Latina team that accessed the site of the incident.
The Telecommunications company Etecsa also reported interruptions in cell phone service caused by the incident.
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