Havana, May 19: More than 100 people were killed after a Cubana de Aviacion Boeing 737-200 crashed soon after takeoff from Havana's Jose Marti International Airport, a media report said on Saturday. Three female passengers are in critical condition after surviving the crash.

Flight DMJ 0972 heading from Cuba to Holguin was carrying 111 people, including 105 passengers and six crew members, when it plummeted at 12.08 p.m. on Friday in Santiago de Las Vegas, just miles from the runway, CCN reported.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who was at the scene of the accident, later offered his condolences to the victims' families. He said the cause of the crash was under investigation.

The Boeing was owned by the Mexican airline Aerolíneas Damojh and leased to Cubana de Aviacion, the Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement. The chartered flight "suffered a failure". 

The plane appeared to swerve to one side and revved its engines before crashing, said an eyewitness. A large fireball followed by a plume of smoke was visible near the airport, added witnesses.

Search and rescue personnel descended on the area--with some residents helping--as firefighters tried to extinguish the flames.

Cuba announced two days of mourning, during which flags will fly at half-staff.

Boeing issued a statement of condolence and said, "A Boeing technical team stands ready to assist as permitted under US law and at the direction of the US National Transportation Safety Board and Cuban authorities."

In November 2010, a domestic passenger plane with 61 passengers and 7 crew members crashed in Cuba while travelling from Santiago de Cuba to Havana.

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London, Aug 5 (PTI): An Indian-origin taxi driver based in Ireland for over 23 years has become the latest to be targeted in an unprovoked attack in the capital Dublin, with local police (Gardai) launching an investigation into the violent assault.

Lakhvir Singh, in his 40s, told local media that he picked up two young men in their 20s on Friday night and dropped them at Poppintree, in the Ballymun suburb of Dublin.

Upon arriving at the destination, the men are said to have opened the vehicle door and struck him twice on the head with a bottle. As the suspects fled, they reportedly shouted: "Go back to your own country".

"In 10 years I've never seen anything like this happen," Singh told ‘Dublin Live’.

"I'm really scared now and I'm off the road at the moment. It will be very hard to go back. My children are really scared," he said.

A Dublin police spokesperson said Singh was taken to the city's Beaumont Hospital with injuries determined as not life-threatening.

"Gardaí are investigating an assault reported to have occurred in Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 at approximately 11:45 pm on Friday, 1st August 2025. A man, aged in his 40s, was brought to Beaumont Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injury. Investigations are ongoing," the spokesperson said.

The incident followed an Indian Embassy advisory, also issued on Friday, expressing safety concerns following recent attacks in and around the capital Dublin and urging Indian citizens to take safety precautions.

"There has been an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently,” states the advisory.

“The embassy is in touch with the authorities concerned in Ireland in this regard. At the same time, all Indian citizens in Ireland are advised to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially at odd hours," the statement reads, adding emergency embassy contact details as 0899423734 and cons.dublin@mea.gov.in.

It came in the wake of a brutal attack on a 40-year-old Indian man at Parkhill Road in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin on July 19, described as “mindless, racist violence” by locals.

The Gardai had opened an investigation into the case and Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra was among those who took to social media to express shock over the attack.

“Regarding the recent incident of physical attack on an Indian national that happened in Tallaght, Dublin, the embassy is in touch with the victim and his family. All the requisite assistance is being offered. The embassy is also in touch with the relevant Irish authorities in this regard,” the embassy said in a social media post days after the incident.

A Stand Against Racism protest was also held by the local community in condemnation of what was described as a "vicious racist attack" and to express solidarity with migrants.

Last week, Dr Santosh Yadav took to LinkedIn to post details of a “brutal, unprovoked racist attack”.

The entrepreneur and AI expert stressed that it was not an isolated incident and called for “concrete measures” from the governments of Ireland and India to ensure Indians feel safe to walk the streets of Dublin.

His post revealed that a group of six teenagers attacked him from behind as he walked to his apartment in Dublin.

“This is not an isolated incident. Racist attacks on Indian men and other minorities are surging across Dublin — on buses, in housing estates, and on public streets. Yet, the government is silent. There is no action being taken against these perpetrators. They run free and are emboldened to attack again,” reads Yadav's post.

Fine Gael party Councillor for Tallaght South, Baby Pereppadan, was among those who expressed concern following last month’s attack.

“People need to understand that many Indian people moving to Ireland are here on work permits, to study and work in the healthcare sector or in IT and so on, providing critical skills,” he said.