Tourists wonder whether they were also victims of Cuba attacks

A growing group of American tourists are questioning whether they were also the targets of mysterious Cuban attacks that left two-dozen U.S. diplomats working on the island with sudden brain injuries, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

In 2014, Chris Allen cut short his to trip to Cuba after he experienced widespread numbness throughout his body shortly after crawling into bed at Havana’s Hotel Capri — the same hotel where the American government workers were staying at the time.

“It was so noticeable and it happened so quickly that it was all I could focus on and it really, really frightened me,” said Allen told the news wire. His symptoms baffled multiple U.S. neurologists who examined him.

The 37-year-old from South Carolina believes the incidents are related, joining a group of other Americans citizens who wonder if they were also victims of the unexplained attacks.

As investigators continue to try determine the weapon that was used against dozens of diplomats, questions about the extent of who was targeted in the attacks continue to swirl.

The AP reports that Allen’s case illustrates “the essential paradox of Havana’s mystery: If you can’t say what the attacks are, how can you say what they’re not?”

One American diplomat in Havana described hearing a “blaring, grinding noise” from his bed — but when he moved only a few feet away, he stepped into silence, almost like an “invisible wall cutting straight through his room,” the AP reported last month.

The U.S. government first acknowledged the “health attacks” in August after the State Department expelled two Cuban diplomats from the U.S. over safety concerns. The move came nine months after the injuries were first reported.

While the U.S. has not directly accused Cuba, which has denied any involvement in the injuries, the State Department has warned that Havana is responsible for the safety of U.S. diplomats serving in the state under the Vienna Convention.