A young resident of the multi-family building located at 165 Dragones Street, across from the Capitol in Havana, reported in a video the imminent risk of collapse of a structure that literally hangs in the air above the building's staircase, where dozens of people, including children, pass by daily.
In the clip shared on Facebook by the rapper El Funky, the woman shows in real-time the condition of the compromised section located just beneath her home. "This is in the air, this is in the air. If this collapses, it will kill anyone," she warns desperately to the camera.
The most alarming aspect is not just the condition of the property, but the inaction of the authorities. The complainant recounts that she had alerted the relevant agencies the night before: a government architect arrived at the site, but the demolition crew never showed up. "I’m tired of calling them, and calling them, and calling them," she states.
The woman describes the staircase as a necessary passage for dozens of neighbors every day and fears that the structure might collapse on someone. "Just imagine, it could fall on someone, on a child," she says.
And it concludes with a question that challenges the institutional neglect present throughout the capital: "When there is a death, then they will come. I reported it yesterday, I reported it today as well, and when will we keep reporting it, when there’s a dead person?"
Just three days earlier, two elderly people were crushed by the collapse of the portal of their house in Lawton, Diez de Octubre municipality, in Havana. The same pattern: prior complaints, no response, tragedy realized.
In May, the staircase in a six-story building collapsed in Mulgoba, Boyeros, and a woman was injured. The residents had also reported the deterioration without receiving any response.
In July, several families remained homeless two weeks after a collapse in Centro Habana, with firefighters prohibiting re-entry due to imminent danger.
According to official Cuban figures cited in April 2026, about 1,000 buildings collapse each year in Havana.
The national housing deficit exceeds 929,000 homes, and approximately 35% of the real estate stock is in fair or poor condition.
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