At least 8 people were killed and 30 others hospitalized after a massive explosion at a Havana hotel on Friday.

Iran PressAmerica: A powerful explosion apparently caused by a natural gas leak Friday killed eight people and injured at least 40 when it blew away the outer walls of a five-star hotel in the heart of Cuba's capital.

The blast that ripped away large sections of the outer wall at the Hotel Saratoga, a 19th-century structure in Old Havana, apparently was due to a gas leak, according to the Twitter account of the office of President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

The Communist Party newspaper Granma said local officials reported 13 people missing.

Havana Gov. Reinaldo García Zapata said the hotel was in the process of renovations and no tourists were lodged there, Granma reported. 219