More than 100 killed in passenger plane crash in Cuba

More than 100 killed in passenger plane
crash in Cuba

R

More than 100 people were killed in a fiery
crash of a Boeing 737 passenger plane in
Cuba on Friday, Cuban broadcaster CubaTV
reported.
There were three seriously injured survivors
among the 114 passengers and crew, Cuban
president Miguel Diaz-Canel said.
The aircraft, on a domestic flight to Holguin in
eastern Cuba, crashed shortly after taking off
from Havana, Cuban state-run media reported.
There were 105 passengers, including five
children, and nine crew members.
The fire from the crash had been put out and
authorities were identifying bodies, President
Diaz-Canel said, adding that authorities were
investigating the cause of the crash.
Wreckage was strewn over the area 20 km (12
miles) south of Havana, a Reuters witness
said, and blackened parts of the fuselage
were visible.
"We heard an explosion and then saw a big
cloud of smoke go up," said Gilberto
Menendez, who runs a restaurant near the
crash site in the agricultural area of Boyeros.
Carlos Alberto Martinez, the director of
Havana's Calixto Garcia hospital, told Reuters
that four victims of the accident had been
brought there. One had died and three others,
all women, were in a serious condition, he
said.
"She is alive but very burnt and swollen," said
a distressed relative of one of the survivors at
the hospital.
The flight was leased by airline Cubana from a
small Mexican airline called Damojh or Global,
Cuban state media said. Holguin has some of
the island's most pristine beaches, and
attracts tourists.
Cubana declined to comment. A Damojh
representative in Mexico said, "we are
gathering what we can to give correct
information."
The nationality of those on board was not
immediately clear. State media said that the
crew were foreign, but provided no further
details.
Flight tracking websites indicated the flight
was CU972, departing Havana at 11am (1500
GMT).
CUBANA COMPLAINTS
The Mexican government said on its website
that the plane was a Boeing 737-201 built in
1979, making it around 39 years old.
source : bdnews24