Emerging reports Friday say a Boeing 737 plane crashed shortly after taking off from José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba. The Cubana aircraft, carrying 104 passengers, went down near a high school in the Boyeros neighborhood at 12.30 pm EST.
A Photo of the crash site has begun appearing on social media.
Plane crash in Cuba, American flight crashed shortly after take off 😟 #cuba #planecrash pic.twitter.com/W4IuiIaF1K
— Matt Blakeley (@blakeley1990) May 18, 2018
Primeras imágenes del avión siniestrado poco después de despegar desde La Habana con 104 pasajeros a bordo #AFP pic.twitter.com/vea83yZmJn
— Agence France-Presse (@AFPespanol) May 18, 2018
The plane was reportedly flying from Havana east to the city of Holguín.
According to Martí Noticias, a Cuban-American outlet based in Miami, Cuban state television have identified the aircraft as a Blue Panorama leased by Cubana de Aviación and used by Damojh airlines.
“There was a big explosion and a fire … the area near the airport is cordoned off,” an unnamed witness told Martí.
Cuban government news outlets say President Miguel Díaz-Canel is traveling to the scene of the crash.
#URGENTE: El avión que se ha estrellado en #Cuba cubría la ruta La Habana – Holguín. Miguel Díaz-Canel se está trasladando al lugar.
— Cubanet (@CubanetNoticias) May 18, 2018
Agence France-Presse, which appears to have reporters stationed with Díaz-Canel, quotes him as saying that “it appears there are a high number of victims.” The number of passengers on the plane has been updated to 113.
Prensa Latina, a leftist outlet connected to the Cuban regime, announced via Twitter that the government does not yet have information at press time about the number of injuries, and that the plane landed in an agricultural area near the airport.
The outlet CiberCuba has published a video of the ensuing fire following the crash:
CNN has also published video, apparently taken by locals watching the event unfold (warning: strong language in Spanish):
.@CNN has obtained video that appears to show smoke rising from the plane crash site, near José Martí International Airport in Havana Cuba. pic.twitter.com/oObs4WKvXU
— Paul P. Murphy (@murphy_paulp) May 18, 2018
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