A plane crash in Cuba has killed all 68 passengers, said Cuba’s Civil Aviation Authority, after rescue crews finished searching through the charred remains of the aircraft.
The state-run Aerocaribbean aircraft had been flying from the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba to Havana. The crash happened near the rural town of Guasimal in Santi Spiritus province late on Thursday.
Reportedly, 28 of the passengers were foreigners and the other 33 passengers and seven crew-members were all Cuban.
Photos posted on state-run website Cubadebate early Friday showed rescue crews using bulldozers to cut through vegetation in order to reach the accident. This morning, flames still engulfed part of the plane.
There is no word on the cause of the crash but the Civil Aviation Institute of Cuba said Flight 883 lost contact with air traffic controllers around 5:42 pm Thursday.
Residents in the area reported that the plane made several sudden movements before plunging to the ground.
“At the moment, aviation and regional authorities are gathering the facts and details and have created a commission to investigate such a regrettable accident,” the Civil Aviation Authority statement said.
See images from the Cuba plane crash here: cubadebate.cu
