At Least 100 Dead In Cuba Plane Crash, State Media Reports
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LA HABANA, CUBA (CBSMiami) -- More than 100 people are believed to have perished, as a Cubana de Aviacion Boeing 737-200 with 104 people on board crashed Friday on takeoff from Havana's Jose Marti International Airport, according to Cuba's state-run television.
The plane plummeted into a yuca field just after takeoff. Reports said there were nine crew members on board. Two passengers were in critical condition after surviving the crash, the state-run newspaper Granma reported.
The flight to the eastern Cuban city of Holguin went down at 12:08 p.m. in the Santiago de las Vegas neighborhood near the airport, according to Granma. Search and rescue personnel were on the scene, with some residents joining in to help.
The plane appeared heavily damaged and burnt. Firefighters were trying to extinguish its smoldering remains. Government officials including President Miguel Diaz-Canel rushed to the site, along with a large number of emergency medical workers. Residents of the rural area said they had seen some survivors being taken away in ambulances.
PIX: Plane Crash In Cuba, 104 Passengers On Board
Cubana, the country's national airline company, rented the plane from Blue Panorama, Cuban media reports.
Relatives of passengers rushed to the scene, among them a man who said that his wife and niece had been on board. He declined to provide his full name before he was taken to an airline terminal where relatives were being asked to gather.
Authorities are still gathering information about the crash and cannot confirm if Americans were on the flight or not, a U.S. State Department official said Friday.
"We offer our sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims. We cannot yet confirm whether U.S. Citizens were on board," the official said in a statement.
Cuba's First Vice-President, Salvador Valdes Mesa, met Thursday with Cubana officials to discuss improvements in its heavily criticized service. The airline is notorious among Cubans for its frequent delays and cancellations, which Cubana blames on a lack of parts and airplanes due to the U.S. trade embargo on the island.
The crash Friday was Cuba's third major fatal accident since 2010.