Plane with 68 on board crashes in Cuba

HAVANA - A Cuban passenger plane with 68 people on board, 28 among them foreigners, crashed late Thursday, authorities said, without specifying whether there were any survivors.

According to the Cuban civil aeronautics institute (IACC), an aircraft of Cuba’s Aerocaribbean SA airlines, en route from Santiago de Cuba to Havana, crashed in the central region of Guasimal in the province of Sancti Spiritus.

The IACC said the aircraft had reported an “emergency situation” at 5.42 p.m. (2242 GMT) and then lost contact with air traffic control.

Sixty-one passengers and seven crew had been on board, when the “regrettable accident” occurred, a statement read on Cuban television said. There had been 40 Cubans and 28 foreigners on board, it added, but did not give the nationalities of the non-Cubans.

The passengers’ names would be released at a later point, the statement said.