More than 110 passengers killed in plane crash in Cuba

An aging Boeing 737 with 110 people aboard crashed and burned shortly after taking off from Havana's airport, leaving three survivors.

The aircraft, on a domestic flight to Holguin in eastern Cuba, crashed shortly after taking off from Havana at 11am (11pm Singapore time). There were either 104 or 105 passengers, including five children, plus nine crew members, various state media said. 

The fire from the crash had been put out and authorities were identifying bodies, Diaz-Canel said, adding that authorities were investigating the cause of the crash.

The wreckage was strewn over the area 20 kilometers south of Havana, a witness said, and blackened parts of the fuselage were visible.

"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.

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The Boeing 737-201 aircraft was built in 1979 and leased by Cuban airline Cubana from a small Mexican firm called Damojh, according to the Mexican government. That would make it significantly older than most planes in service. 

Damojh in Mexico said it did not immediately have any more information. Cubana declined to comment. 

The last fatal crash in Cuba was in 2017, the Aviation Safety Network said. It was a military flight that killed all eight on board.

In 2010, a commercial Aero Caribbean plane crashed in central Cuba. All 68 people on board were killed.