A rescue mission is underway following a massive explosion at a Cuban hotel.

Officials are reporting at least eight people have died following the incident in the capital Havana.

The blast at the Hotel Saratoga, a 19th-century structure in Old Havana, was apparently due to a gas leak, according to the Twitter account of the office of President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who went to the site.

A search and rescue mission is now under way for people who might be trapped in the rubble.

Photos published by government news media showed severe damage to the hotel, with clouds of dust billowing into the sky.

Photographer Michel Figueroa said he had been walking past the hotel when “the explosion threw me to the ground, and my head still hurts. Everything was very fast.”

Yazira de la Caridad, mother of two, said the explosion shook her home near the hotel. “The whole building moved. I thought it was an earthquake,” she said. “I’ve still got my heart in my hand.”

Mayiee Perez said she had gone to the scene after receiving a call from her husband, Daniel Serra, who works at a foreign exchange shop inside the hotel.

She said he told her “I am fine, I am fine, they got us out”, but had been unable to reach him since.

The website Cubadebate reported that a school next door had been evacuated.

The five-star, 96-room hotel in Old Havana has two bars, two restaurants and a rooftop pool, according to its website.