At least 100 dead in Cuba plane crash

Police officers and soldiers guard the wreckage of the Boeing 737 that crashed shortly after takeoff at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba on Friday. Photo by Alejandro Ernesto/EPA-EFE

May 18 (UPI) — A Boeing 737 crashed shortly after takeoff in Cuba on Friday, officials at Jose Marti International Airport said, killing at least 100 people.

The plane with 104 people on board crashed near a high school close to the Havana airport, creating a plume of smoke, WPLG-TV in Miami reported. Radio Havana Cuba said the plane crashed onto a highway.

State-run media said officials transported three survivors to the hospital, but that more than 100 died.

The plane was leased by Cubana de Aviación from Mexican airline Global Aerolineas Damojh. Flight CU972 was en route from Havana to Holguin on the eastern portion of the island.

The Independent reported the plane was 30 years old and had previously been used by seven other airlines, including Southwest Airlines and Air Kazakhstan.

This is a developing story.

Three people survived the plane crash of a Boeing 737 of Cubana de Aviacion with 104 passengers on board that had just taken off heading to the Holguin province at the east of the island Photo by Alejandro ErnestoEPA EFE

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