Two elderly adults were rescued this Saturday after a house collapsed on Cristo Street, between Bembeta and Desengaño, in front of Cristo Park, in the city of Camagüey, according to journalist José L. Tan Estrada on his Facebook page.
According to the information provided, both elderly individuals were inside the building at the time of the collapse and were successfully rescued alive. No fatalities or serious injuries were reported, which brought relief to the local residents.
"Thank God nothing happened to my neighbors," wrote an internet user in the comments of the post. Another expressed, "Thank God there were no human losses, only material ones."
According to Tan Estrada, "the house was in poor condition and, according to neighbors in the area, the rains and water accumulation contributed to the collapse of the structure." Additionally, in a subsequent update, the reporter specified that "the collapse also caused the façade of the neighboring house to fall, whose living room is now in danger... and on the verge of collapsing."
What happened did not surprise those who are familiar with the condition of that block. An internet user revealed that the day before, he had passed by the area and had already noticed the danger: "I passed by there yesterday and commented on how people were walking on that sidewalk and about the residents." Another neighbor pointed out that the problem goes beyond just one house: "Many houses in Camagüey, including some that have been designated as World Heritage sites, are at risk of collapsing."
The incident is part of a pattern that occurs with alarming frequency in Cuba. The country has an official housing deficit of around 806,000 units, according to the General Directorate of Housing of the Ministry of Construction, which acknowledged this in May 2026. In addition to the accumulated deterioration, approximately 35% of the Cuban housing stock is in fair or poor condition.
The situation is particularly evident in cities with a large stock of aging real estate, such as Havana and Camagüey, where the historic center retains significant colonial architectural heritage.
Recent events in the province are telling. In October 2025, a collapse on Horca Street affected three homes and left several families in distress; structural moisture exacerbated by the rains was identified as the main cause. In June of this year, two elderly individuals in the La Pollera community, in the municipality of Vertientes, were living among the debris of their collapsed home without receiving assistance from the authorities.
A sadly repeating pattern emerges: deteriorated homes with decades of neglect, rain as the trigger, and the elderly as the most vulnerable victims. A few days before the collapse on Cristo Street, two elderly individuals died buried after the collapse of their home's entrance in the Lawton neighborhood of Havana.
(News in progress)
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