At least nine people have been killed with around 30 left injured after a massive explosion rocked a popular hotel in Havana as several floors were ripped apart.
There were reports of terrified guests trapped on the top floor of the the Hotel Saratoga after the the blast obliterated huge parts of the building in Cuba.
So far no details are officially known about what could have caused the incident at the well-known Hotel Saratoga but tonight witnesses and Cuban state media said the deadly explosion killed at least nine people and sent another 30 to hospital.
It tore a gash in several floors high into the side of the building with preliminary investigations suggesting a gas leak may be behind it.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel ruled out a bombing, but stated that authorities were still investigating the cause of the explosion.
President Diaz-Canel, speaking from the scene of the disaster on Cuban television, confirmed it had not been caused by a bomb, adding that a gas leak appeared to be the most likely cause.
State TV said the blast was "not a terrorist attack," adding that the hotel was closed and only workers were inside at time of the explosion citing Roberto Enrique Calzadilla, a representative of the military-run company that operates many of the country's hotels.
In a broadcast interview, Calzadilla said the 96-room hotel had been set to re-open in the next few days and that the workers on site were making final preparations. He also pointed to a gas leak as the possible cause of the tragedy.
"The workers were... making repairs and doing all the work to open the property and in the morning they were resupplying
the gas and it seems some accident caused an explosion," he said.
While search and rescue efforts were ongoing, it was unclear if additional victims remain trapped in the rubble.
Injured people have been seen outside the building after a noise "like a bomb" was reported.
Cubans saved some of the people who had been left under the rubble minutes after as videos emerged of locals trying to rescue the wounded.
Images from the scene showed the blown-out facade as plumes of dust and smoke were be seen rising around the debris on the ground.
Photos from Granma, the Communist Party's official daily, showed images of the hotel with walls apparently blown out.
A witness saw smoke and flames coming from the building. Police and rescue workers flocked to the area, cordoning off key points and buildings nearby, including the historic Capitolio building.
A photo from the scene showed what appeared to be at least one body on the scene with a white cloth over it.
Nearby, ambulances were seen approaching a hospital in the old quarter of Havana surrounded by a crowd of doctors, nurses, police and curious onlookers.
Police and the fire rescue service have been seen searching for survivors.
"The First Secretary of the Party in Havana, Luis Antonio Torres Iríbar, explains that so far the death of 4 people has been confirmed," the Cuban presidency tweeted, before the death toll was upgraded to nine tonight.
"Search and rescue efforts continue at the hotel, where people may still be trapped."
Videos show hundreds of people standing outside the part destroyed hotel, stunned by what they are seeing.
The hotel is almost totally destroyed, with some of the buildings next to it also battered by the blast.
Another witnessed saw smoke and flames coming from the building.
Buses and cars outside the hotel were also wrecked.
The grand hotel, located in Havana's old town, has 96 rooms and a rooftop pool.
Mexico's foreign minister tweeted following the explosion.
"Our solidarity to the victims and those affected as well as the people of that dear fraternal nation," tweeted Marcelo Ebrard.
The Hotel Saratoga is described on Wikipedia as a 'luxurious neoclassical architecture style hotel' located on the Paseo del Prado, in Old Havana, in front of the Fuente de la India.
Built in 1880 for warehouses, it was re-modeled as a hotel in 1933 and re-opened in 2005.
