Serious collapse in Old Havana: Neighbors and firefighters trapped in the ruins

A multi-family building located on Lamparilla Street No. 362, between Villegas and Aguacate, in the municipalityold Havana suffered a doublecollapse on this Tuesday night.

So far, the official number of injured or dead in the tragic event has not been released.

“Some members of the team were trapped with residents. Until the time of writing this note, they still had not been rescued.", admitted the Government of Havana on Facebook, in a brief note that has not been updated so far.

Images spread on social networks show how after the first partial collapse, while a Rescue and Rescue team from the Fire Department was inside the building, a second collapse occurred.

Videos published by witnesses show the moments of anguish that were experienced in the place after the second collapse.

The images allow us to see how some firefighters managed to get out in time but it is unknown at the moment how many members of the rescue teams or neighbors were inside.

The incident was located near Parque Cristo. In social networksSeveral Cubans confirmed the movement of ambulances and the arrival of more rescue teams at the scene.

Specialized forces from the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), Public Health and authorities of the Party and Government of the province also remain in the area.

As of the closing of this note, there is no other official information about the tragic event.

Havana, a dying city

In the last two weeks at least two other people died due to landslides in Havana.

On September 20, Rescue and Rescue Forces, Police and Public Health responded to a collapse located at 913 Compostela Street between Velazco and Desamparados, whereone person died.

Hours later, the Government of Havana reported that the deceased, 54 years old, was called Jorge Luis Jorrín Guides and that heavy rains that occurred in the previous hours could have contributed to the collapse of the roof.

Roberto Guides Zúñiga, a man who identified himself as the brother of the man who died in the tragic collapse, said then thatthe government is "killing families" and attending only to "their interests", without addressing the construction problems that thousands of homes have in the capital.

Days later, in the early morning of September 28, Another person died after the partial collapse of a house on Maloja Street No. 565, between Oquendo and Márquez González.

At the end of August, at leasttwo more landslides in the capitalafter the heavy rains associated with the passage of Hurricane Idalia through the western end of Cuba. In one of them, the corners of a building in Vedado collapsed.

However, the most serious collapse was the one that occurred on Prado Street #352, on the corner of Neptuno, whereat least 16 people were affected, including six children and two disabled adults, after the main entrance to the property collapsed. In that case several people were trapped and had to be rescued by a rescue team.