HAVANA – More than 100 people have died after a Boeing 737 airliner crashed near Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuban state media said on Friday.
Three people have survived but are in a critical condition, Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma reported.
According to officials, the Cubana de Aviacion flight was en route to the Cuban city of Holguin, located about 500 miles east of the Cuban capital.
Flight tracking websites indicate the plane departed at mid-morning local time, and it reportedly crashed shortly after.
It was carrying 104 passengers and nine foreign crew, according to local media.
Images showed a thick column of smoke rising above the crash site as fire crews and ambulances attended the scene.
“There has been an unfortunate aviation accident. The news is not very promising, it seems that there is a high number of victims,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said after visiting the crash site.
Footage of emergency and rescue crews working at the plane crash in La Habana, Cuba. pic.twitter.com/1bmOnAjvkT
— Guido Mastrangelo (@GuidoGma) May 18, 2018
The airliner had been leased to state airline Cubana de Aviación by the Mexican company Damojh, Cuban news agency Prensa Latina said.
This is a developing story. More updates to follow
