Eight dead, dozens injured as explosion damages hotel in Cuban capital Havana

Photos published by government news media showed severe damage to the hotel, with clouds of dust billowing into the sky

The five-star Hotel Saratoga is heavily damaged after an explosion (Ramon Espinosa/AP)

A powerful explosion has damaged a hotel in the Cuban capital, with officials reporting that at least eight people have died.

The blast at the Hotel Saratoga, a 19th-century structure in Old Havana, was apparently due to a gas leak, according to the Twitter account of the office of president Miguel Diaz-Canel, who went to the site.