Mexican firm suspended after Cuban plane crash
Mexico City, May 22: Mexico's civil air authority has suspended the operations of a company that owned the plane which crashed in Cuba killing 111 people. It is the country's deadliest air disaster in 30 years.
The charter company, Aerolineas Damojh, had leased the airplane in question to Cuban state airlines Cubana de Aviacion, and is under "extraordinary verification", the BBC reported quoting an official statement as saying on Monday.
The crash on Friday killed 110 people immediately after taking off from the Havana airport, while one more died on Monday, bringing the total death toll to 111.
The plane was reportedly built in 1979. One former pilot said it had dropped off the radar once earlier, while another alleged that the maintenance was poor, the BBC reported.
The General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) statement said the authority will seek information to help the crash investigation, and whether the Mexican company continues to follow regulations.
It said Aerolineas Damojh was subject to previous investigations -- in 2010, due to a crash in Puerto Vallarta, and in 2013 following a complaint from an airline pilot.
The authority has run "annual checks" on Aerolineas Damojh, the statement read, with the most recent in November 2017, the BBC said.
Two women survived the crash -- Mailen Diaz, 19, and Emiley Sanchez, 39 but according to reports they are in critical condition.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Online fraud: Hotel chef from Udupi cheated of over Rs 1 lakh by WhatsApp contact
Udupi: Udupi City Police have registered a case of online fraud after a 62-year-old hotel chef was allegedly cheated of Rs 1.13 lakh by a woman who befriended him on WhatsApp, claiming to be based in London.
The victim, identified as Pandu Kariappa Poojary, a resident of Kuthpadi in Udupi, was working at a hotel in Mangaluru.
He reportedly came into contact with a woman identifying herself as Emilda William on WhatsApp. During their interactions, she told Poojary that she planned to start a cosmetics and hotel business in India and would meet him during a visit to Mangaluru.
On April 7, Emilda sent Poojary a flight ticket from London to Delhi via WhatsApp. The following day, Poojary received a phone call from a woman who informed him that Emilda had arrived at Delhi airport carrying a demand draft worth Rs 5 crore along with other items. The caller allegedly asked him to pay Rs 70,000.
Subsequently, Poojary also received a call from Emilda, who was reportedly crying and spoke about the situation. Believing the claims, he transferred a total of Rs 1,13,300 in phases using a scanner. He later realised that he had been cheated.
