A Boeing 737 has crashed in Cuba after striking a power line while returning to a Havana airport after takeoff, according to local media. Only three people of the reported 110 on board survived, and are fighting for their lives.
READ MORE: Boeing 737 with over 100 on board crashes at Cuban airport
The aircraft was heading to Holguin in eastern Cuba from the nations capital, and crashed shortly after takeoff. While the cause of the fatal incident remains unclear, state media are reporting, citing eyewitnesses, that the plane tried to make it back to the airport after ascending. The plane was being leased by Cubana de Aviación airline from a small Mexican airline called Damojh, or Global. During the landing, the Boeing 737 reportedly hit a power line.
Emergency services rushed to the scene within minutes of the crash. Footage from the crash site obtained by RTs Ruptly video agency showed rescue workers and medics being helped by locals to carry one of the passengers on a stretcher towards an emergency vehicle.
READ MORE: First footage from Cuba plane crash as rescuers look for survivors (PHOTO, VIDEO)
Four people were pulled out alive from the wreckage, but one of them, a man, died on the way to hospital. The other three, all female, remain in a critical condition.
READ MORE: 3 survivors in Boeing 737 crash in Cuba (VIDEO)
“It has been confirmed that the majority of passengers on the plane were Cuban,” Granma, the official newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party, said, noting that five crew members were foreigners. Earlier, the Mexican Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that the Boeing 737-200 series was owned by Damojh airlines and was nearly 30 years old, and that five crew members of the plane were all Mexican nationals.
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