Cuba: At least 100 dead in plane crash near Havana airport, only three survivors
The three survivors from the Boeing 737 accident are in critical condition, officials said.
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At least 100 people died after a plane crashed in Cuba on Friday, Reuters reported. The Boeing 737 domestic passenger plane crashed soon after taking off from the Havana airport. Only three women survived but they are in critical condition, reported BBC. The plane was carrying 104 passengers and six crew members, all of whom were Mexican. A majority of the passengers were Cuban.
The flight was on its way to the eastern city of Holguin. Local media reported that five of the people on board were foreigners and there were five children. The plane was almost completely destroyed in the crash and subsequent fire.
“We should expect that the news will not be good, as there are a high number of people who appear to have been killed,” President Miguel Diaz-Canel said, adding that the fire from the crash had been put out and that the process of idetifying the bodies has begun. The cause of the crash was not immediately known, he added.
Cuba has declared two days of national mourning.
Authorities said the flight was nearly 40 years old and rented by Cubana from Aerolines Damojh, a small charter company.
Cuba’s last major aviation disaster was in November 2010. A Cuban airlines crashed on its way to Havana, killing all 68 people on board.
Harrowing video captures moments after passenger jet carrying 104 passengers hit the ground in Cuba, exploding into a massive fireball. https://t.co/AheZpJc6CO pic.twitter.com/XiFsGagjtC
— ABC News (@ABC) May 18, 2018
Boeing extends our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those on board Flight 972 operated by Global Aerolineas Damojh on behalf of Cubana de Aviacion. Boeing also extends our best wishes for the recovery of those who were injured. https://t.co/cUbFSsODk0
— Boeing Airplanes (@BoeingAirplanes) May 18, 2018