At least eight people have been killed and about 30 others hospitalized after a large explosion destroyed part of a hotel in downtown Havana, the Cuban president’s office has said, citing local health officials.

In a series of tweets on Friday afternoon, the presidency said preliminary investigations indicated that the explosion at Hotel Saratoga was caused by a gas leak.

“So far, eight people have died and about 30 are hospitalised,” said the office, which earlier had reported that 13 people also were missing.

Photos from Granma, the Cuban Communist Party’s official daily, showed images of the multi-storey hotel whose walls appeared to have been blown out by the blast.