The 80-year-old Cuban was hospitalized after the fire in Old Havana

An 80-year-old man was hospitalized on October 23 after a fire in his apartment in Old Havana.

According to independent media CubaNet, the fire originated in apartment 3 on the first floor of a building located on Curazao Street, between Luz and Acosta.

Firefighters involved said it appeared to be caused by an electrical short circuit. The victim, identified as Raúl, 80 years old, survived due to burns and was quickly taken to the hospital.

A neighbor told CubaNet that Raúl rarely went out and did not socialize with anyone. Apparently someone was taking care of him, but wasn’t there at the time of the accident. “According to the firefighters, when they broke the door and entered, he was sitting on the bed and the fire was behind him, burning his head and back,” he said.

Fires have been recurring in Cuba and have left many dead in recent months. At the end of September, an accident occurred in a house in Havana that left a teenager dead and 18 injured.

The event took place at 4:00 am on September 24 in the Casitas de Kholy area, of the Colón Popular Council, located in Nuevo Vedado. According to the first investigation, the tragedy started with the explosion of an electric motorcycle that was charging at the scene.

The deceased teenager 15 years old and the 18 injured were transferred to the “General Calixto García” University Hospital to receive medical attention in the Burn Unit, the authorities reported.

Another unfortunate incident occurred on July 16, when Juan Francisco Sánchez Freire, 77, burned to death in his apartment in Nuevo Vedado when he set himself on fire in an apparent suicide attempt, 14ymedio reported.

The neighbors tried to put out the fire while the firemen arrived. Sánchez Freire, who no longer lives there, visited his family. After setting himself on fire, he went to his ex-wife’s room and jumped on it causing the fire. Both were hospitalized, but the older one died.

Sánchez Freire was one of the founders of the building in 1985. The number of fires reported in Cuba increased in 2023, including in houses and forests.