FOG BLOG WORLD NEWS LOG: HAVANA HOTEL EXPLOSION KILLS 26, LIKELY CAUSED BY GAS LEAK:

At least 26 dead in wake of Havana hotel explosion as search for victims continues Relatives of the missing desperately await news of their loved ones Relatives of the missing in Cuba's capital desperately searched on Saturday for victims of an explosion at one of Havana's most luxurious hotels that killed at least 26 people. They checked the morgue, hospitals and, if unsuccessful, returned to the partially collapsed Hotel Saratoga, where rescuers used dogs to hunt for survivors.

A natural gas leak was the apparent cause of Friday's blast at Havana's 96-room Hotel Saratoga.

The 19th-century structure in the city's Old Havana neighbourhood did not have any guests at the time because it was undergoing renovations ahead of a planned Tuesday reopening after being closed for two years during the pandemic.

Havana city officials raised the death toll to 26 on Saturday. The dead included four children and a pregnant woman. Spanish President Pedro Sanchez said via Twitter that a Spanish tourist was among the dead and that another Spaniard was seriously injured.

Cuban authorities confirmed the tourist's death and said her partner was injured. They were not staying at the hotel. Dalila Gonzalez, a spokesperson for the Tourism Ministry, said a Cuban-American tourist was also injured.