Cuba plane crash: Cubana de Aviacion aircraft with 110 on board crashes near Havana; three rescued

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Havana: A Cuban state airways plane with 110 passengers and crew on board crashed shortly after taking off from Havana Friday, leaving a mass of twisted and smoldering fuselage, as the country’s president warned many people were feared dead.

Cuban state media reported that three people had been pulled alive from the mangled wreckage and were in critical condition in hospital.

There was no other official mention of survivors from a nearly 40-year-old Boeing 737 operated by Cubana de Aviacion, which crashed into a field close to a wooded area near Havana’s Jose Marti airport, sending a thick column of acrid smoke into the air.

The 110 aboard included six Mexican crew, said Aerolineas Damojh, the Mexican-based company that leased the plane to the Cuban carrier.

The plane — carrying 104 passengers — was almost completely destroyed in the crash and subsequent fire, which was put out by firefighters who raced to the scene along with a fleet of ambulances.

Emergency personnel combed through the wreckage, lending little hope that there could be other survivors.

“Three passengers managed to survive the accident. They are in a critical condition. They are already in hospital,” the state newspaper Granma said.

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