A passenger airplane crashed Friday, shortly after taking off from Havana’s airport in Cuba. The plane carried 104 passengers and nine crew members.
The number of deaths is not yet known.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited the site of the crash, and told Agence France Presse, “It appears there is a high number of victims.”
Cuba’s state broadcaster reported the plane crashed in Boyeros, a rural area about 20 kilometers south of Havana.
The plane, operated by Cuban national airline Cubana, was heading to Holguin in eastern Cuba.
A witness told Reuters the plane’s wreckage spread over the rural area, and that emergency vehicles and firefighters were there.
A worker at Havana’s Calixto Garcia hospital told Reuters three victims of the accident had arrived so far. One died from burns, and the other two were in a serious condition.
Friday’s crash was Cuba’s third major airline accident since 2010.
Last year, a Cuban military plane crashed into a hill in the western province of Artemisa, killing eight soldiers.
In November 2010, an AeroCaribbean flight from Santiago to Havana crashed in bad weather over central Cuba. The accident killed all 68 people, including 28 foreigners.
On Sept. 4, 1989, a charter flight leaving Havana for Italy crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 126 people on board.
I'm Mario Ritter.
Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on AP and Reuters news reports. Caty Weaver was the editor.
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