GUASIMAL, Cuba — Rescue workers on Friday pulled bodies from the charred wreckage of a state airliner that went down in rugged central Cuba, as desperate relatives gathered at the capital's airport and called foreign embassies seeking information on their loved ones.
All 68 people aboard AeroCaribbean Flight 883 were killed when the turboprop plane went down Thursday afternoon in a remote area near the village of Guasimal in Sancti Spiritus province.
Twenty-eight foreigners were among the dead, including nine Argentines, seven Mexicans, and citizens of Germany, Holland, Spain, Italy and other European countries. One Japanese national was also on board. It was Cuba's worst air disaster in more than 20 years.
The plane, carrying 61 passengers and an all-Cuban crew of seven, was en route to the capital from the main eastern city of Santiago de Cuba when it reported an emergency at 5:42 p.m. and later crashed in flames.
