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Plane with 68 people on board crashes in Cuba

05 November 2010 04:41 (UTC +04:00)

According to the Cuban civil aeronautics inistute (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 pm (2242 GMT) and then lost contact with airtraffic 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.