People have been pouring onto the streets to lament - and celebrate - the death of former Cuban president Fidel Castro.

While some Cubans described his loss as "a painful blow", others rejoiced, blaming the revolutionary leader for the deaths of innocent people and separating families.

Havana resident Mariela Alonso, a 45-year-old doctor, said: "There will be no one else like him. We will feel his physical absence."

:: World leaders mark Castro's passing

People in Miami celebrate Fidel Castro's death

In Old Havana, the city centre of the Cuban capital, people gathered around their radios, listening to state-run stations playing revolutionary anthems and reciting facts about Castro's life.


"I shouldn't be happy because a person has died, but he separated my family. My parents never got to see Cuba again. So today, I rejoice for this," said one woman.

In Miami, jubilant Cuban exiles and their descendants chanted "Cuba si! Castro no!" on Calle Ocho - 8th Street - against the backdrop of a carnival-like atmosphere of fireworks, salsa music and car horns.

Thousands of people cheered as others drummed pots with spoons, waved Cuban flags and danced, some spraying champagne into the air.

:: Fidel Castro: A thorn in the side of the US

Image: Former president Fidel Castro led a rebel army to improbable victory in Cuba, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of 10 US presidents during his half century rule Image: Cuba's Fidel Castro seized power from dictator Fulgencio Batista in a 1959 revolution and transformed the country Image: Castro claimed he survived 634 attempts or plots to assassinate him, mainly masterminded by the CIA Image: The alleged plots included poison pills, a toxic cigar, exploding molluscs, and a chemically tainted diving suit. Another alleged plan involved giving him powder that would make his beard fall out and so undermine his popularity Image: Castro holds the record for the longest speech ever delivered to the United Nations: 4 hours and 29 minutes, on 26 September 1960, according to the UN website Image: In his last years, Castro occasionally appeared in public and in videos and pictures usually meeting with guests. Here he is pictured with former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da in Silva in 2010 Image: Pope Benedict XVI met the former Cuban president in Havana in 2012 Image: Time Magazine in 2012 named Castro as one of the 100 most influential personalities of all time /

The 90-year-old's death at 10.29pm on Friday after a long battle with illness was announced on state television by his brother and current President Raul Castro.

He said "the commander in chief of the Cuban Revolution" would be cremated on Saturday, concluding: "Until the everlasting victory, always."

Nine days of national mourning have been declared until 4 December, when Castro's ashes will be interred during a memorial service in the southeastern city of Santiago after a four-day procession through Cuba.

Fidel Castro is dead! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2016

A defining figure of the 20th century, Castro took power following a revolution in 1959 to become, at 32, the youngest leader in Latin America.

Two years later he fended off a US-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs.

His alliance with Moscow helped trigger the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, a 13-day showdown with the United States that brought the world close to a nuclear war.

Castro ruled Cuba for 49 years before standing down in February 2008 after a long illness.

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His own physician, a specialist in longevity, had suggested four years earlier the leader could live to 140. "I am not exaggerating," Dr Eugenio Selman said.

The nation was therefore stunned as its ageing, yet ironclad leader handed over power temporarily to his brother in 2006 when an acute infection in his colon forced him to undergo emergency surgery.

Cuban intelligence services claim Castro - who reportedly married twice and fathered nine children - faced 634 assassination plots between 1958 and 2000, with some reportedly involving poisoned or explosive cigars.

You were the greatest man I ever met Comandante Fidel. You were the man of the century. Hasta la Victoria Siepmre. Orden. RIP pic.twitter.com/VFAF6nq1Wu — George Galloway (@georgegalloway) November 26, 2016

"I don't think Fidel's passing is the big test. The big test is handing the revolution over to the next generation and that will happen when Raul steps down," Cuba expert Phil Peters said before Castro's death.

In 2014, under Raul Castro, Cuba and the US agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations and open economic and travel ties to end decades of hostility.

Fidel Castro's year-long silence thereafter raised questions about whether he agreed with his brother's decision.

In August, Castro, who defied the power of 10 US presidents, attended a celebration for his 90th birthday and marked the occasion by hitting out at Barack Obama.

Image: Assassination plots involved poisoned or explosive cigars

Mr Obama offered the Cuban people "a hand of friendship" in a statement following news of Castro's death.

US President-elect Donald Trump, who during his campaign threatened to reverse the thaw in American/Cuban relations, said Cuba could move towards a "wonderful future" following the death of a "brutal dictator".

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping all issued tributes.

:: Castro: Liberator or brutal dictator?

Fidel Castro's death announced on Cuban TV

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson described Castro as an "historic if controversial figure" whose death "marks the end of an era for Cuba and the start of a new one for Cuba's people".

Figures from the left wing of British politics also paid tribute to the divisive figure, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who praised Castro as "a massive figure in the history of the whole planet".