More than 100 Killed in Cuba Plane Crash

Havana, Cuba (CNN) - More than 100 people are believed dead Friday after a Cubana de Aviacion Boeing 737-200 crashed on takeoff from Havana's Jose Marti International Airport, according to Cuba's state-run media.

Three female passengers are in critical condition after surviving the crash into thick vegetation just miles from the runway, the state-run newspaper Granma reported. Earlier Friday evening, Granma reported that one of the three survivors had died. Shortly afterward, Granma issued a correction, saying that all three women are alive.

Flight DMJ 0972 was headed to the eastern Cuban city of Holguin when it plummeted into in an agricultural area in the Santiago de las Vegas neighborhood at 12:08 p.m., according to Granma. Vice Minister of Transportation Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila said there were 105 passengers on board, including one infant. Five passengers were foreigners and 100 were Cuban, he said.

Argentina's Foreign Ministry said two passengers were Argentine.

Orestes Bentancour, who lives near the crash site, told CNN that he was drawn out of his home by the "enormous noise" the plane made on takeoff. He said the plane appeared to swerve to one side and revved its engines before crashing.
Five crew members on board were Mexican nationals, according to Mexico's Civil Aviation Authority. Global Airline, which operated the flight, said there were six crew members, all Mexican nationals.

The nearly 40-year-old Boeing 737-200 was owned by the Mexican airline Aerolíneas Damojh and leased to Cubana de Aviacion, the Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement. The charter flight "suffered a failure" and crashed about six miles from the airport.
Search and rescue personnel descended on the area -- with some residents helping ...