“This whole block needs to be knocked down and rebuilt again,” a neighbour in calle Monte told ’14ymedio’.
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 12 July 2025 — A house in multiple occupation collapsed this Saturday morning in La Habana Vieja, leaving three dead under the rubble. A few hours before that in the Diez de Octubre neighbourhood another building “under demolition” also collapsed with three people in it and one of them died. Both these events bear witness to the state of the buildings in the capital and the helplessness of the people of Havana in the face of the ever accelerating collapse of the city. The authorities have provided incomplete, unclear and late information on both cases.
The collapse of the first building, located at 722 calle Monte between Rastro and Carmen, happened Saturday morning and the Havana authorities reported that at least three people, including a little nine-year-old girl, died when they were trapped in the rubble. The deceased were confirmed by the Asamblea Municipal del Poder Popular de La Habana Vieja on Facebook.
In spite of that, other official media, reporting more recently, not only have not yet reported the deaths, but have given assurances that the rescue work – with firemen, rescue workers, police and dog teams – is continuing, even though 14ymedio confirmed that the rubble has already been cleared from the avenue, traffic has restarted and rescue teams have left the location.
Teresa, an 82-year-old who lives in the street told 14ymedio that, “This whole block needs to be knocked down and rebuilt again. Most of the houses here have been declared unsafe, but people still live here because they have nowhere else to go.” The part which collapsed was above a shop which sold furniture a long time ago, and after that was a state hardware business and now sells different kinds of things, and “has had lots of problems with a leaky roof, leading to it being closed for a long time.”
The Havana house is one of the ones in the block that is propped up on the outside and inside with wooden beams. She told us “When my youngest grandson was born they told him they would find him somewhere so he could leave here. The kid is now 26, and nothing.”
Teresa didn’t know about the collapse until this morning. “I didn’t feel anything because I had a headache and took some sleeping pills and so I found out about the collapse this morning” she told this publication. “When I looked I saw the yellow tape and the rubble in the street.”
Although she didn’t know the victims, she said many people in the area are worried by the news of the deaths, and various plainclothes state security agents* (agents of the Seguridad del Estado, often surveilling critics of the regime) are posted in the street, watching what happens.
For Teresa seeing the rubble and the ruins has been a déjà vu, because just a year ago the house in calle Monte on the corner with Rastro was partially demolished after also suffering a collapse. “We had weeks with the dust getting in everywhere.”
On social media, the neighbours and the authorities published photos of the collapsed building, and also showing the fire trucks and other state vehicles as well as a pile of rubble blocking the street.
In the second collapse – Friday afternoon – in a house being demolished in calle San Bernardino, between Serrano and Durege, in Diez de Octubre municipality, one person was killed. “After midnight, the Rescue Brigade managed to remove the body of someone trapped under the rubble. The deceased, Roberto Álvarez Castillo, 60 years old, was a resident of Cerro municipality. His family who were there were fully helped by health specialists and local authorities, stated Tribuna de La Habana.
The publication added that two other people were found under the rubble, although they were not injured. Having found the body, “they became aware of the presence of two other people there and called off the search” in the three storey building, which was “old” and “was propped up”.
“Four months ago, part of the building fell down and today at 2:00 pm another part fell, but this time it cost the life of one of the workers removing some bricks. One was able to escape, but the other couldn’t” said a local resident in a Facebook post agreeing with the official version.
According to the authorities, “the building was uninhabited and in the course of being demolished going on for more than three months, and the people were there in spite of several no entry warnings from the neighbours and the authorities.” The Havana Channel (Canal Habana) added that work to rescue “the trapped people” is still continuing.
Destroyed by the authorities’ neglect and lack of interest, Havana is full of deadly locations and calle Monte is one of them. In June 2024, number 425, between Ángeles and Águila, partially collapsed, leaving a young person injured. Next door, the house at 423 also cost a man’s life four years ago, when one of its side walls collapsed.
“We can’t even sleep here, all of us living in this bit of the street are in danger” a neighbour said to us.
At the end of that month, after several days of storms, at least 19 buildings had partial or total collapses. This Friday, however, nothing happened which could be used as an excuse for the collapses: not one drop of water fell in the capital.
*Translator’s note: Agents of the Seguridad del Estado, who often surveil critics of the regime.
Translated by GH
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