More than 100 people were killed after a Boeing 737 passenger plane crashed in Cuba.
More than 100 people were killed after a Boeing 737 passenger plane crashed in Cuba on Friday. Three survivors were rescued. One of them succumbed to injuries while the other two continue to remain in a critical condition.
The aircraft, on a domestic flight to Holguin in eastern Cuba, crashed shortly after taking off from Havana at 11 a.m. (1500 GMT). There were either 104 or 105 passengers, including five children, plus nine crew members, various state media said.
The cause of the plane crash is still unclear. "During take-off (the plane) apparently suffered a problem and dived to the ground," the Mexican transport department said on its website.
Here are the highlights on the plane crash
Cuba has declared an official period of mourning from 6 am on May 19 to 12 pm on May 20, during which the flag would be flown at half-mast outside state and military institutions.
The first secretary of Communist Party in the Cuban city of Holguin, Luis Antonio Torres Iribar (R), spoke with relatives of one of the victims of the plane crash.
Firefighters worked in the wreckage of a Boeing 737 plane that crashed in the agricultural area of Boyeros, around 20 km (12 miles) south of Havana
Yusniel Leon, a 22-year-old mechanic, called a cousin to tell him of the accident. His father-in-law had boarded the plane. "My father-in-law went on that plane. We don't know if he's among the survivors," he said, in shock.
"The explosion shook everything," recounted Yasniel Diaz, who was near the airport and saw the plane fall to the ground and smash into it.
Family members of the passengers were brought to a private area of the airport terminal on Friday afternoon. "My daughter is 24, my God, she's only 24!" cried Beatriz Pantoja, whose daughter Leticia was on board the plane.
A worker at Havana's Calixto Garcia Hospital told Reuters that one of the three survivors who were rushed to the hospital subsequently died from burns and other trauma.
The aircraft, on a domestic flight to Holguin in eastern Cuba, crashed shortly after taking off from Havana at 11 a.m. (1500 GMT).
There were either 104 or 105 passengers, including five children, plus nine crew members, various state media said.
More than 100 people were killed in a Boeing 737 passenger plane crash in Cuba on Friday, with just three seriously injured survivors.