PLANE CRASHES IN CUBA WITH 104 PEOPLE ON BOARD: REPORTS

HAVANA: A Boeing 737 plane operated by state-run Cubana Airlines crashed on Friday shortly after taking off from Havana’s main airport, Cuba’s state media reported.

The plane was a domestic flight going to Holguin, carrying 104 passengers, state-run TV said. The number of casualties could not be ascertained at the time of going to press but officials said it could be “high”.

“It crashed between the locality of Boyeros and the village of Santiago de La Vegas,” state-run TV said in its midday news broadcast, referring to an area 20 km south of Havana.

Images on TV and social media showed a large plume of black smoke above the airport. Ambulances and firefighters rushed to the scene.

The plane lay in a farm field and appeared heavily damaged and burnt, with firefighters spraying water on its smoldering remains.

Government officials including President Miguel Diaz-Canel rushed to the site, along with a large number of emergency medical workers and ambulances.

Residents of the rural area said they had seen some survivors being taken away in ambulances. The plane was rented by Cubana, which has taken many of its ageing planes out of service in recent months due to mechanical problems. Officials said the cause of the crash was not known.

The airliner was described as a 26-year-old Boeing 737-400 Blue Panorama for Cubana de Aviación.