No Chinese victims in Cuba plane crash

Rescuers work at the site where an airplane of Cuban airline "Cubana de Aviacion" crashed, in Havana, Cuba, on May 18, 2018. At least three people have been found alive, but in critical condition, after a Boeing 737 passenger plane crashed near Havana on Friday, according to state newspaper Granma. (Xinhua/Joaquin Hernandez)

No Chinese people were on the passenger plane that crashed in Cuba, Xinhua reported Saturday, citing Cuba's Foreign Ministry.

Two out of the four rescued passengers were dead and the other two were seriously injured.

More than 100 people were killed in a fiery crash of a Boeing 737 passenger plane in Cuba on Friday, Cuban broadcaster Cuba TV reported.

The aircraft, on a domestic flight to Holguin in eastern Cuba, crashed shortly after taking off from Havana, Cuban state-run media reported. There were 105 passengers, including five children, and nine crew members.

The fire from the crash had been put out and authorities were identifying bodies, President Diaz-Canel said, adding that authorities were investigating the cause of the crash.

Wreckage was strewn over the area 20 km (12 miles) south of Havana, a Reuters witness said, and blackened parts of the fuselage were visible.

"We heard an explosion and then saw a big cloud of smoke goup," said Gilberto Menendez, who runs a restaurant near the crash site in the agricultural area of Boyeros.

Carlos Alberto Martinez, the director of Havana's Calixto Garcia hospital, told Reuters that four victims of the accident had been brought there. One had died and three others, all women, were in a serious condition, he said.

"She is alive but very burnt and swollen," said a distressed relative of one of the survivors at the hospital.

The flight was destined for Holguin in eastern Cuba and was leased by airline Cubana from a small Mexican airline called Damojh or Global, Cuban state media said. Holguin has some of the island's most pristine beaches, and attracts tourists.

Cubana declined to comment. A Damojh representative in Mexico said "we are gathering what we can to give correct information."

The nationality of those on board was not immediately clear. State media said that the crew were foreign, but provided no further details.