44 Feared Dead in Cuba Plane Crash
Searchers recovered 17 bodies Saturday from a Cuban airliner that crashed into the Caribbean off Cuba’s southeast coast, an airline official said. Twenty-seven other people aboard were missing.
Cubana de Aviacion Flight 787 plunged into the sea Friday night about three minutes after takeoff from Santiago de Cuba en route to Havana, airline spokesman Manolo Fernandez in Havana said.
Fernandez said 39 passengers and a crew of five were on the Russian-made, twin-engine aircraft. Fernandez said there were eight foreigners on the flight--six Spaniards and two Brazilians.
Cuban ships, planes, helicopters and divers searched calm seas about 2 1/2 miles off the coast, spotting 17 bodies by midday, authorities said.
Hopes of finding any survivors dwindled as the hours passed. Cuban state television footage showed a sandal, scraps of clothing, a leather purse and other debris that searchers had apparently pulled from the water.
The head of the municipal government in Santiago de Cuba, Luis Estruch, told Cubavision that searchers had worked all night to recover bodies.
“We are making a very strong effort because the accident happened in a very inaccessible area [that] is very deep,” Estruch said.
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