A Boeing 737 crashed shortly after taking off from José Martí International Airport in Havana on Friday, initial reports said.
Cuban state-run newspaper Granma said the plane was carrying 104 passengers, three of whom survived.
An airport employee told the Associated Press that workers were told of the crash. Cuban state television reported that the plane, leased by national airline Cubana de Aviación, was en route to the city of Holguín.
"It seems that there is a high number of victims," Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said, according to Agence France-Presse.
(Update) Authorities confirm that the aircraft involved in a crash in Havana today is a 30 year-old Boeing 737-200 (XA-UMQ) wet-leased from Mexican charter airline Global Air (Damojh), operating on behalf of #Cubana. #CU972
— Roberto Leiro (@rleiro) May 18, 2018
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness tweeted about the situation Friday afternoon. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to our Caribbean neighbours in Cuba after a Boeing 737 passenger jet crashed this afternoon at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport in Cuba," he wrote. "We pray for the safety of the passengers and flight crew."
A foreign crew was aboard the plane, Granma reported. The Mexican Embassy in Cuba said it activated its "emergency protocols" in the wake of the crash. A photo from the airport posted on social media showed a thick plume of black smoke nearby. The cause of the crash remains unknown.
A flight tracker on the José Martí Airport website showed a flight operated by Cubana de Aviación scheduled to leave Havana at 11:00 CDT and arrive in Holguín at 12:20.
A 737 can seat anywhere from 126 people to 178 people, according to Boeing. Boeing said that it was "aware of news reports" and that it was "closely monitoring the situation."
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
