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.

 

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New Delhi, Nov 21: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday launched the Karnataka Milk Federation's (KMF) Nandini brand milk products in the Delhi-NCR market, pricing them marginally lower than competitors to gain a foothold in the region.

The cooperative will retail four cow milk variants, curd, and buttermilk from Friday, with competitive pricing that undercuts established players like Mother Dairy and Amul.

Cow milk will be sold at Rs 56 per litre, full Cream Milk at Rs 67 per litre, Standardised Milk at Rs 61 per litre, Toned Milk at Rs 55 per litre, and curd at Rs 74 per kg.

"We have surplus milk in the state. KMF along with Mandya Milk Union will market surplus milk of 3-4 lakh litres per day in Delhi-NCR," Siddaramaiah told reporters after launching the products.

The federation currently collects 100 lakh litres of milk daily, with local consumption at 60 lakh litres, leaving a surplus of 40 lakh litres for expansion into new markets.

However, the Chief Minister acknowledged the challenges of transporting milk over 2,500 km, which takes 50-54 hours.

There is a need to find new markets for surplus milk and gradually the KMF should be able to sell 5-6 lakh litres per day in Delhi-NCR, he added.

KMF Chairman LBP Bheemanaik assured that milk quality would be maintained during transit.

The federation has already partnered with 40 dealers in the Delhi-NCR region to facilitate sales, he added.

With a robust infrastructure of 26.76 lakh milk producers, 15,737 dairy cooperative societies, and 15 district milk unions, KMF has a turnover of Rs 25,000 crore and exports dairy products to over 25 countries.

State Animal Husbandry Minister K Venkatesh and Agriculture Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy were present at the product launch.