Two days of mourning after Cuban plane crash horror

CUBA has declared two days of mourning after more than 100 people died when a plane crashed soon after taking off – in the country’s worst air disaster for 30 years.

The ageing Boeing 737 – on a domestic flight from capital Havana to the tourist resort of Holguin – crashed moments after leaving the airport. There were 110 people aboard, including five children. Five of the passengers and the crew are believed to be foreigners, including Argentine and Mexican citizens. Three female survivors pulled from the wreckage are in a critical condition.

Cuban president Miguel DiazCanel said a commission had been formed to find the cause of the crash. The plane, built in 1979 and operated by state airline Cubana, had 104 mainly Cuban passengers and six crew members.

In the worst Cubana disaster, a jet crashed near Havana in 1989, killing all 126 people on board.