Massive explosion destroys hotel in Cuba killing 25
A major explosion ripped through Havana’s Saratoga Hotel on Friday, destroying multiple floors of the building. So far, the cause of the blast remains unclear and there are no estimates of casualties.
The blast happened at around 11am local time, with witnesses telling local media the explosion “sounded like a bomb.”
The hotel is located directly across from Cuba’s National Capitol Building, the seat of the country’s parliament.
Explosion rocks building in Madrid
A powerful explosion has rocked the Spanish capital Madrid early in the afternoon on Friday, with authorities reporting more than a dozen injuries.
The blast occurred at a four-story building in the city’s upmarket Salamanca area where construction work had been underway at the time.
The incident left at least 18 people injured, according to medics. Most of them escaped with light wounds, but four required hospitalization, including one in a serious condition.
Two construction workers are reportedly missing. They are said to have been on the third floor when the blast occurred.
Powerful Explosion Kills Over 50 at Kabul Mosque
A powerful explosion killed more than 50 worshippers after Friday (April 29) prayers at a Kabul mosque, its leader said, the latest in a series of attacks on civilian targets in Afghanistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The blast hit the Khalifa Sahib Mosque in the west of the capital in the early afternoon, said Besmullah Habib, deputy spokesman for the interior ministry, who said the confirmed death toll was 10.
The attack came as worshippers at the Sunni mosque gathered after Friday prayers for a congregation known as Zikr—an act of religious remembrance practised by some Muslims but seen as heretical by some hardline Sunni groups.
Sayed Fazil Agha, the head of the mosque, said someone they believed was a suicide bomber joined them in the ceremony and detonated explosives. This comes after a regional chapter of ISIS in Afghanistan recently took credit for a string of bombings over the past two weeks that killed roughly 30 people.
