Café Worker Dies in Building Collapse in Central Havana
The tragedy, caused by the partial collapse of the roof, exposes the severe deterioration of buildings in the Cuban capital.
HAVANA TIMES – A partial building collapse on Thursday at the corner of San Rafael and Galiano streets in Central Havana claimed the life of an employee working in a ground-floor business. Part of the roof caved in, trapping several people, one of whom could not be rescued alive by firefighters, 14ymedio confirmed at the scene.
The building, which houses the Café Boulevard on the ground floor, has on its upper floor a rooming house plagued by structural problems and overcrowding. Part of the roof fell onto the café workers, killing one of them under the rubble. The entire block where the building stands shows alarming signs of decay and lack of maintenance.
So far, the official media has not reported the news, and the identity of the deceased worker is unknown. Several witnesses described him as “a young man a little over 30 who was the security guard,” while others said he was “a construction worker” engaged in repair work. Following the collapse, the busy, downtown area was swarmed by fire brigades, ambulances, and rescue personnel.
Some bystanders tried to slip inside to take photos and videos with their phones, but a resident stopped them. Another resident said the upstairs tenant’s materials for repairing his home were ruined.
From the outside, the collapse is barely visible. “This building is full of leaks, the café is all dolled up with fresh paint on the façade, but it has always had problems with water leaking from the residences above. It’s been declared uninhabitable for years,” complained an internet user identifying herself as a neighbor of the building, in a comment under one of the social media posts reporting the incident.
The tragedy coincided with a day’s tour by president Miguel Díaz-Canel of “various significant sites in the Cuban capital,” according to the official press. The itinerary included the Anti-Imperialist Tribune in Vedado, a few meters from the US Embassy, several cultural institutions in the historic center, and the Ernesto Che Guevara Pioneers’ Palace, reopened in April.
The heavy rains of recent days have hastened the collapse of several buildings in Havana. In just four days, there have been multiple total or partial collapses, with two deaths. The first victim was a five-month-old baby who died last Monday.
The baby, identified as Neimar Francisco Valdés Pérez, drowned after water burst into his home in the El Cerro neighborhood when a wall gave way.
On Wednesday night, part of a balcony of a home at the corner of Lagunas and Lealtad streets in Central Havana collapsed onto the sidewalk, according to the Facebook page La Tijera. At the time the chunks of concrete and brick fell, no one was passing by—something neighbors who reported the incident called “exceptional.”
On Saturday, July 12, a multifamily building collapsed in Old Havana, killing three people trapped under the rubble: a married couple and their seven-year-old daughter. Just hours earlier, in Diez de Octubre, another building “in the process of demolition” also came down with three people inside, one of whom died.
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.