Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The plane came down in a field near Havana's main airport

More than 100 people have died after a Boeing 737 airliner crashed near Cuba's main airport in Havana, the country's worst air disaster in decades.

Three women were pulled alive from the wreckage, but are said to be in a critical condition.

The plane, which was nearly 40 years old, was carrying 105 passengers and six crew members.

Cuban authorities have launched an investigation, and two days of national mourning have been declared.

The Boeing 737-201 crashed at 12:08 (16:08 GMT) on Friday, shortly after taking off from Havana on an internal flight to Holguin on the east of the island.

All six crew members on board were Mexican and the majority of the passengers were Cuban, with five foreigners reported to be among them.

"There has been an unfortunate aviation accident. The news is not very promising, it seems that there is a high number of victims," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said after visiting the crash site.

How did the plane come down?

It's too early to say what caused the crash, but eyewitnesses on the ground describe seeing the jet burst into flames before crashing into a field close to a wooded area near Havana's main airport.

"I saw it taking off," supermarket worker Jose Luis told the AFP news agency. "All of a sudden, it made a turn, and went down. We were all amazed."

"We heard an explosion and then saw a big cloud of smoke go up," Gilberto Menendez, who runs a restaurant near the crash site, told Reuters.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Wreckage was spread over a large area

Mexico's transport department said on its website that "during take-off (the plane) apparently suffered a problem and dived to the ground".

Boeing said that it was ready to send a technical team to Cuba, "as permitted under US law and at the direction of the US National Transportation Safety Board and Cuban authorities". A US trade embargo has been in force against Cuba for many decades.

What do we know about the survivors?

Four people survived the crash but one died after being transported to hospital, the director of Havana's Calixto Garcia hospital, Carlos Alberto Martinez, told Reuters.

The three survivors are all women, according to Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma: one aged between 18 and 25, one in her thirties and the third aged 39.

"She is alive but very burnt," one of the women's relatives at the hospital told Reuters.

Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Three women were pulled from the wreckage

Both the Argentine and Mexican governments have confirmed nationals from their countries were among the dead.

What do we know about the plane?

The plane had been leased to state airline Cubana de Aviación by the Mexican company Aerolineas Damojh.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Crowds of shocked onlookers gathered at the crash site

The Mexican authorities said the plane was built in 1979 and had been successfully inspected last November. Mexico has said it was sending two civil aviation specialists to join the investigation.

Aerolineas Damojh, also known as Global Air, has three planes in operation.

How does it compare to recent plane crashes?

According to industry research, last year was the safest in history for commercial airline travel with no passenger jet crashes. But there have been several serious air disasters this year.

Last month, a military plane crashed shortly after take-off in Algeria, killing more than 250 people

In February, a Saratov Airlines plane crashed near Moscow, killing 71 people

In March, a US-Bangla Airlines flight crashed in Kathmandu, Nepal; 51 people died

Cuba's deadliest air crash was in 1989, when a Soviet-made Ilyushin-62M passenger plane crashed near Havana killing 126 people on board and another 24 people on the ground. </s> Havana, May 18 (IANS) A Boeing 737 plane, believed to be carrying 104 passengers, crashed on Friday shortly after taking off from Havana’s main airport, media reports said.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel said many are feared dead, according to Sky News.

The plane came down shortly after take-off and exploded on the “highway” between Boyeros and Havana, near the Jose Marti International Airport here, Radio Habana Cuba tweeted.

Fire crews and ambulances were at the scene, BBC reported.

The plane reportedly belongs to Cubana de Aviacion. The flight was headed to Guyana, an airport source told CNN. </s> Havana, Cuba (CNN) More than 100 people are believed dead Friday after a Cubana de Aviacion Boeing 737-200 crashed on takeoff from Havana's Jose Marti International Airport, according to Cuba's state-run media.

Three female passengers are in critical condition after surviving the crash into thick vegetation just miles from the runway, the state-run newspaper Granma reported. Earlier Friday evening, Granma reported that one of the three survivors had died. Shortly afterward, Granma issued a correction, saying that all three women are alive.

The scene at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport after a Cubana de Aviacion plane crashed Friday.

Flight DMJ 0972 was headed to the eastern Cuban city of Holguin when it plummeted into in an agricultural area in the Santiago de las Vegas neighborhood at 12:08 p.m., according to Granma. Vice Minister of Transportation Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila said there were 105 passengers on board, including one infant. Five passengers were foreigners and 100 were Cuban, he said.

Argentina's Foreign Ministry said two passengers were Argentine.

Orestes Bentancour, who lives near the crash site, told CNN that he was drawn out of his home by the "enormous noise" the plane made on takeoff. He said the plane appeared to swerve to one side and revved its engines before crashing.

Read More </s> At least 100 people were on a plane that crashed after taking off from Havana, Cuba. (Source: Raycom Media)

HAVANA, CUBA (RNN) – A Boeing 737 Blue Panorama flight carrying more than 100 people crashed after taking off from Jose Marti Airport, Cuba's state media tells CNN.

Earlier reports said the plane was a Cubana de Aviacion flight, which is Cuba's national carrier.

A huge fireball was seen according to CNN, and a Twitter user tweeted a photo of a large black plume of smoke in the air.

The plane was headed to Holguin, which is on the south east side of the island. </s> At least 100 people were on a plane that crashed after taking off from Havana, Cuba. (Source: Raycom Media)

HAVANA, CUBA (RNN) – A Boeing 737 plane carrying more than 100 people crashed after taking off from Jose Marti Airport, Cuba's state media tells CNN.

It's not yet known the extent of injuries or if there are any fatalities. CNN reports that three passengers are in critical condition and Cuba's president is at the scene.

Tweets from Spanish media say that the plane landed 20 kilometers from the airport in a neighborhood.

A huge fireball, then thick black smoke billowing in the air was seen from witnesses near the airport.

Because information is coming from Cuba's state media, it's changing and slow coming. Initially, they said the plane was from Blue Panorama, a low-cost, private Italian airline company.

However, it seems that Cubana de Aviacion, which is Cuba's national carrier, leased the plane because of its aging fleet.

Cubana de Aviacion grounded many flights earlier this month because of safety issues.

The plane was headed to Holguin, which is on the south east side of the island 400 miles from Havana. </s> HAVANA — Cuban media say a Boeing 737 operated by state airline Cubana has crashed on takeoff from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana with 104 passengers on board. There was no immediate word on casualties.

State television and websites said the plane was headed to the eastern city of Holguin and crashed between the airport in southern Havana and the nearby town of Santiago de las Vegas.

The plane was rented by Cubana, which has taken many of its aging planes out of service in recent months due to mechanical problems. </s> HAVANA >> A Boeing 737 operated by state airline Cubana crashed on takeoff from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana on Friday with 104 people on board. There was no immediate word on casualties.

State television and websites said the plane was headed to the eastern city of Holguin and crashed between the airport in southern Havana and the nearby town of Santiago de las Vegas.

The plane lay in a farm field and appeared heavily damaged and burnt, with firefighters spraying water on its smoldering remains. Government officials including President Miguel Diaz-Canel rushed to the site, along with a large number of emergency medical workers and ambulances. Residents of the rural area said they had seen some survivors being taken away in ambulances.

The plane was rented by Cubana, which has taken many of its aging planes out of service in recent months due to mechanical problems. </s> A plane with more than 110 people on board has crashed shortly after taking off from Jose Marti airport in Cuba's capital, Havana, according to state media.

The Boeing 737, which was heading to the eastern city of Holguin, crashed "near the international airport" on Friday, state agency Prensa Latina reported.

The aircraft carried 104 passengers and nine crew. Local media reports said there were at least three survivors who were taken to hospital in critical condition.

Fire crews and ambulances rushed to the scene, while images posted on social media purported to show a thick column of smoke rising above the crash site.

"There has been an unfortunate aviation accident. The news is not very promising, it seems that there is a high number of victims," Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who visited the site, was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.

Ed Augustin, a journalist based in Havana, said it was likely that the plane had crashed minutes after take off.

"That's because you can see plumes of smoke rising from the crash site from inside the Havana airport," he told Al Jazeera.

Holguin was a popular destination for tourists, he added. </s> A passenger plane has crashed in Cuba reportedly killing all 39 people on board.

The Antonov An-26 aircraft owned by Cuban airline AeroGaviota came down near the western province of Pinar Del Rio just 50 miles from the capital Havana.

The area where the plane came down is known as Las Lomas de San Cristóbal that is 'difficult to access by land'.

Local media reports suggest that everyone on board has died in the crash although officials are yet to confirm the number of fatalities.

The turboprop plane is thought to have taken off from the country's Baracoa Airport which regularly offers domestic flights.

A Cuban aviation source said: 'The area is difficult to access by land, and the preliminary report is that there are no survivors.

'Even though it's nothing official, members of a commission came to my house to let me know what happened.'

In 2002 four Britons were among 16 people who died when a light aircraft crashed in Cuba.

The plane, an Antonov AN-2 operated by the state airline Aerotaxi, went down near the city of Santa Clara, about 160 miles east of the capital Havana.

The aircraft had been on a round-trip from Cienfuegos on Cuba's southern coast and the island resort of Cayo Coco, in the north.
A Boeing 737 crashes shortly after taking off from Havana, Cuba, with 104 passengers and nine crew on board. Only three people are reported to have survived the crash. One survivor later dies from her injuries.