A powerful explosion at hotel in the Cuban capital has killed at least 8, injured about 30 with 13 missing.

The blast removed large sections of the outer wall at the five-star, 96-room Hotel Saratoga in Old Havana; apparently caused by a gas leak.

Havana Governor Reinaldo Garcia Zapata says the hotel had undergone renovations and no tourists were staying there.

It was actually set to re-open in a few days.

A woman who lives a block away thought it was ”an earthquake.”