Over 100 killed in Cuban airliner crash

Two days of national mourning have begun in Cuba as authorities there say over 100 persons were killed in yesterday’s crash of a Boeing 737 airliner.

Three women who were pulled from the wreckage alive are reported to be in a critical condition.

The plane, which was nearly 40 years old, was carrying 105 passengers and six crew members destined for Holguin when it crashed shortly after takeoff from the main airport in the Cuban capital of Havana.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel says an investigation is already under way into what is believed to be Cuba's worst air disaster in decades.

It’s also believed that most of the victims are Cubans.

According to reports, relatives have started arriving in Havana to help identify victims of the crash.

The Government of Argentina said two of its citizens were among the dead. The two women, both in their 60s, were vacationing in Cuba.

Authorities say it is too early to determine what caused the crash, but eyewitnesses on the ground described seeing the jet burst into flames before crashing into a field close to a wooded area near the airport.

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