Cuban Authorities Probe Plane Crash
Cuban authorities from the Interior Ministry, the Revolutionary Armed Forces, the Communist Party, and provincial government authorities continued their on-site investigations of a plane crash on Thursday in Sancti Spiritus.
After hours of intense rescue operations, no survivors were reported from the crash of the Cuban ATR-72-212 Aerocaribbean S.A. airliner that was traveling from Santiago de Cuba to Havana.
At nearly 17:42 local time (22:42 GMT) on Thursday, the plane's crew reported an emergency situation, but then lost total contact with air traffic control services, the Cuban Civil Aviation Institute said.
A total of 68 passengers were on the plane, 40 of them Cubans, and the rest from various other countries, the Institute said.
Granma newspaper on Friday published the list of the deceased. In addition to the Cubans, they include two passengers from Germany, nine from Argentina, two from Austria, one from Spain, one from France, three from Holland, one from Italy, one from Japan, seven from Mexico, and one from Venezuela.
After the plane crashed, dozens of local residents immediately went to the site to try to aid possible survivors in a hard-to-access rural area in the town of Guasimal. Heavy equipment was sent immediately to open a path and facilitate the access of ambulances and firefighters.
The most serious plane crash of the last three decades in Cuba occurred in September 1989, when an Il-62 en route to Milan crashed in Havana shortly after taking off, according to the w.ww.cubadebate.cu website.
In that accident, the 115 people onboard, two Cubans and 113 Italian tourists, died. Wreckages of the plane fell on top of nearby homes, killing 40 others.
After hours of intense rescue operations, no survivors were reported from the crash of the Cuban ATR-72-212 Aerocaribbean S.A. airliner that was traveling from Santiago de Cuba to Havana.
At nearly 17:42 local time (22:42 GMT) on Thursday, the plane's crew reported an emergency situation, but then lost total contact with air traffic control services, the Cuban Civil Aviation Institute said.
A total of 68 passengers were on the plane, 40 of them Cubans, and the rest from various other countries, the Institute said.
Granma newspaper on Friday published the list of the deceased. In addition to the Cubans, they include two passengers from Germany, nine from Argentina, two from Austria, one from Spain, one from France, three from Holland, one from Italy, one from Japan, seven from Mexico, and one from Venezuela.
After the plane crashed, dozens of local residents immediately went to the site to try to aid possible survivors in a hard-to-access rural area in the town of Guasimal. Heavy equipment was sent immediately to open a path and facilitate the access of ambulances and firefighters.
The most serious plane crash of the last three decades in Cuba occurred in September 1989, when an Il-62 en route to Milan crashed in Havana shortly after taking off, according to the w.ww.cubadebate.cu website.
In that accident, the 115 people onboard, two Cubans and 113 Italian tourists, died. Wreckages of the plane fell on top of nearby homes, killing 40 others.
Source:
Prensa Latina
Date:
05/11/2010