Cuba Boeing 737 jet crash: More than 100 dead

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.

It was one of the worst airline crashes in Cuba, which has been struggling to operate with a decrepit fleet of planes that it has blamed partly on the longstanding economic embargo imposed by the United States.

As emergency responders rushed to the scene, footage from the crash site showed plumes of thick black smoke rising. The crushed fuselage, seemingly ripped in pieces, lay in thick vegetation as firefighters doused it with hoses. A crowd rushed in and pulled at least one person on a stretcher from the tangled remains.