World

Three dead, 174 injured as powerful tornado hits Cuba

Cuban capital Havana battered on Sunday by powerful winds and heavy rains

View of the waves at the Havana’s boardwalk, Cuba on 22 January 2019. Photograph: Yander Zamora/EPA
View of the waves at the Havana’s boardwalk, Cuba on 22 January 2019. Photograph: Yander Zamora/EPA
Mon Jan 28 2019 - 12:00

The president of Cuba says a tornado in eastern Havana has killed three people and injured 174 others.

The Cuban capital was battered late on Sunday and in the early hours of Monday by powerful winds and heavy rains.

A blackout hit many Havana neighbourhoods around 9pm local time.

Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel posted photos of himself on Twitter with rescue workers besides what appeared to be a vehicle overturned by the storm.

READ SOME MORE

Little further information about the storm appeared in state media.

Photos posted by Cuban media and Havana residents on Twitter showed cars crushed by fallen lampposts and cars trapped in floodwaters around the city.

One local radio station said on Twitter that the neighbourhoods of Regla and 10 de Octubre and the town of San Miguel de Padron had been affected by the tornado. – AP