Two Havana Building Collapses with Four Deaths

In just a few hours on Friday and Saturday, July 11–12

“This entire block needs to be torn down and rebuilt,” a Monte Street resident tells 14ymedio.

By Natalia Lopez Moya (14ymedio)

HAVANA TIMES – A multifamily building collapsed early Saturday morning in Old Havana, leaving three people dead beneath the rubble. Just hours earlier, in the Diez de Octubre municipality, another building “under demolition” also collapsed with three people inside, one of whom died. Both incidents highlight the poor condition of the capital’s buildings and the vulnerability of Havana residents in the face of the city’s increasingly rapid collapse. Authorities have provided incomplete, confusing, and delayed information about both cases.

The first collapse occurred at 722 Monte Street, between Rastro and Carmen Streets, during the early hours of Saturday. Havana authorities reported that at least three people, including a seven-year-old girl, died after being trapped under the debris. The deaths were confirmed in a Facebook post by the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power in Old Havana.

However, other official sources—posting more recently than that body—have yet to confirm the deaths and instead report that rescue efforts involving firefighters, rescuers, police, and canine units are still underway. But 14ymedio confirmed at the scene that the debris had already been cleared from the street, vehicle traffic restored, and emergency personnel had left the area.

“This entire block needs to be torn down and rebuilt,” said Teresa, an 82-year-old neighbor on Monte Street, told 14ymedio. “Most of the houses here have been declared uninhabitable, but people keep living in them because they have nowhere else to go.” The part of the building that collapsed was above a store that long ago was a furniture shop, later became a state hardware store, and now sells various goods. “That store has had a lot of problems with leaks from the roof of that building [that collapsed]; it’s even been closed for long periods because of it,” Teresa explained.

Teresa’s home is one of those on the block propped up inside and out with wooden beams. “When my youngest grandson was born, they said they’d give us a place to move. That boy is now turning 26, and nothing,” she recalled.

Teresa only learned about the collapse this morning. “I didn’t hear anything because I had a headache yesterday and took sleeping pills, so I found out about the collapse this morning,” she told the paper. “When I looked out, I saw the yellow tape and the debris on the street.”

Although she doesn’t know the victims personally, Teresa says the neighborhood is deeply shaken by news of their deaths, which have circulated widely. Several state security agents remain stationed on the street monitoring the area.

For Teresa, seeing the ruins was like déjà vu, exactly a year ago, a building on Monte Street, at the corner of Rastro, was partially demolished after also suffering a collapse. “We spent weeks breathing dust that got into everything,” she said.

On social media, residents and authorities posted images of the collapsed building. In addition to fire trucks and other state vehicles, a pile of rubble was seen blocking the street.

In the second collapse, on Friday afternoon, a person died in a building under demolition on San Bernardino Street, between Serrano and Durege, in the Diez de Octubre municipality. “Just after midnight, the Rescue Brigade recovered the body of the person trapped under the debris on San Bernardino Street. The deceased, 60-year-old Roberto Alvarez Castillo, lived in Cerro municipality. His family, present at the scene, received full support from Health Ministry specialists and local authorities,” reported the government’s Tribuna de La Habana.

The newspaper added that two other people were found under the rubble but were uninjured. Once the body was recovered, “the presence of other individuals in the building was ruled out, and the search was called off.” The three-story building was described as “old” with “tall ceilings.”

“About four months ago, part of the building collapsed, and today at 2:00 pm another part came down, but this time it cost the life of someone who was salvaging bricks. One person managed to escape, but the other didn’t,” said a Havana resident in a Facebook post consistent with the official version.

According to authorities, “the building had been uninhabited and undergoing demolition for more than three months, and people continued to enter despite repeated warnings from neighbors and local authorities not to do so.”

Destroyed by neglect and government indifference, Havana has become full of deadly corners—and Monte Street is one of them. In June 2024, building number 425, between Ángeles and Águila Streets, partially collapsed, injuring a young woman. Next door, number 423 had claimed a man’s life four years earlier when one of its side walls collapsed.

“We can’t even sleep here. Everyone living on this stretch of the street is in danger,” a neighbor told this newspaper at the time.

At the end of that month, after several days of storms, at least 19 buildings partially or totally collapsed. This Friday, however, there were no weather conditions to use as an excuse—not a single drop of rain fell in the capital.

First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.

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