By Global News

More than 100 killed after airplane crashes upon take-off in Cuba

May 18, 2018 | 2:10 PM

HAVANA — Over 100 people were killed after a passenger plane crashed moments after taking off from José Martí International Airport in the Cuban capital of Havana on Friday, Cuban state media report.

The plane, reportedly a Boeing 737, was carrying 114 people — 105 passengers and nine crew — and was a domestic flight traveling to the tourist hotspot of Holguin in the east.

“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 about 20 kilometres south of Havana.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said authorities are working on identifying the bodies.

CubaTV reported that three female survivors are being treated in hospital in serious condition.

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Global Affairs Canada said Canadian consular officials are in close contact with Cuban authorities to obtain further information, although there is no news of Canadian victims at this time.

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

“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, 20 km (12 miles) south of Havana.

A worker at Havana’s Calixto Garcia hospital told Reuters three victims of the accident had arrived so far. One had died from burns and other trauma and the other two were in a serious state.

The ruling Communist Party newspaper, Granma, reported three people survived.

Flight tracking websites indicated the flight was DMJ 0972, with Cuban state media reported the aircraft may have been leased from the Mexican airline Damojh Aerolineas.

Boeing Co. said in a Twitter post: “We are aware of news reports out of Cuba and are closely monitoring the situation.”

– With files from Reuters