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Cuban Aviation Accident

Questions and answers on aviation accident

Questions and answers on aviation accident (+ Photos)
A summary of information available reported on the airplane accident which took place May 18, near Havana’s José Martí International Airport

Author: Digital news staff | informacion@granma.cu
may 21, 2018 09:05:23

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Photo: Estudio Revolución

When did the accident occur?
The accident occurred at 12:08 p.m. on Friday May 18, when a Boeing 737-200 rented by Cubana de Aviación, with a crew from abroad and 107 passengers on flight DMJ 0972 from Havana to Holguin, plummeted to the ground shortly after taking off, in an area between José Martí International Airport and the town of Santiago de Las Vegas.
How many people were aboard and who were they?
Authorities at the Ministry of Transport reported that aboard flight were a total of 113 personas:
• 58 women
• 55 men
Crew: Six Mexican nationals
Passengers: 107
• 102 Cubans resident in seven provinces, of these 67 from Holguín
• Toursits: Two Argentines and one Mexican
• Two Saharawi temporary residents, assumed to be students in Cuba
(The list of victims is available at www.granma.cu/accidente-aereo/2018-05-19/publican-listado-de-pasajeros-de-avion-accidentado-19-05-2018-17-05-34)
Were there any survivors?

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Photo: Ariel Cecilio Lemus Alvarez

Four persons survived the accident, although one died en route to the hospital. The three surviving women are in critical condition, being treated at Calixto García University Hospital.
Dr. Carlos Alberto Martínez Blanco, hospital director identified the patients as Gretell Landrovell Font from Havana, and Mailén Díaz Almaguer and Emiley Sánchez de la O from Holguin. All have undergone surgeries and extraordinary efforts are being made by a multi-disciplinary team to maintain their hemodynamic stability and treat their multiple injuries. Their prognosis is uncertain.

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Photo: Ariel Cecilio Lemus Alvarez

Where does the investigation of possible causes stand?
The investigation commission, presided by Cuba’s Civil Aeronautics Institute is conducting an exhaustive study of all evidence, with the Ministry of the Interior providing collaboration.
The cadavers of all 109 victims were recovered and transported to the forensics center, by 3:30 a.m. May 19. Identification will be a slow process given the severe effects of the impact and fire on bodies.

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Photo: Ariel Cecilio Lemus Alvarez

The voice black box of flight DMJ 0972 has been recovered in good condition, and the search continues for the data box, stated Minister of Transport Adel Yzquierdo Rodríguez, during a Saturday press conference.
Authorities in the United States, where the plane was manufactured by the Boeing company, asked to participate in the investigation and Cuba agreed. Other international experts have also joined the effort.

A rescue team member works at the wreckage of a Boeing 737 plane that crashed in the agricultural area of Boyeros, around 20 km (12 miles) south of Havana, shortly after taking off from Havana's main airport in Cuba, May 18, 2018. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini - RC14EE1BD770
A rescue team member works at the wreckage of a Boeing 737 plane that crashed in the agricultural area of Boyeros, around 20 km (12 miles) south of Havana, shortly after taking off from Havana’s main airport in Cuba, May 18, 2018. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do we know about the company which rented the aircraft to Cubana Airlines?
Minister Yzquierdo said that renting aircraft from foreign companies is a common practice for Cubana, principally because the U.S. blockade makes purchasing them difficult.
“There are different formulas for this,” he said, “In this case, Global Air was responsible for maintenance. We had rented this airplane less than a month ago. We have all the documentation showing that the crew was certified and capable.”
How frequent are aviation accidents in Cuba?

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Photo: Juventud Rebelde

Since the 1960s, fewer than 10 serious accidents with loss of life or severe consequences have been recorded.
The most tragic occurred in September of 1989, in which 160 persons died, 126 aboard the plane and 34 on the ground, since the plane hit a populated area near Havana’s José Martí International Airport.

 

Minute to Minute: Cuban President at site of accident
Aviation accident in Havana
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Cuba at Human Rights Council

Cuba will continue to build an ever freer, more democratic, just, and fraternal societ

Cuba will continue to build an ever freer, more democratic, just, and fraternal society
Statement by Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, during the presentation of Cuba’s National Report to the Third Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Human Rights Council. Geneva, May 16, 2018. (Unofficial version from www.minrex.gob.cu)

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Author: MINREX | internet@granma.cu
may 16, 2018 11:05:37

Mr. President:
Once again, Cuba attends the Universal Periodic Review to ratify its firm commitment with the guarantees for the exercise of human rights.
The national report that we are presenting is the result of a broad and participatory process of consultations which involved numerous government institutions and civil society organizations, as well as the implementation of the recommendations accepted during the second review -79 per cent of all the recommendations that were formulated.
Mr. President:
From the times of the US military occupation, which severed our independence, under the governments it imposed, 45 per cent of children did not attend schools; 85 per cent of persons lacked running water; farmers lived in abject poverty without ever owning the land they tilled and immigrants were brutally exploited.
In Cuba, workers and farmers had no rights. Extrajudicial execution, enforced disappearances and torture were recurrent. Discrimination based on the color of the skin was brutal; poverty was rampant and women and girls were even more excluded. The dignity of Cubans was tarnished and Cuba’s national culture was trampled upon.
The Cuban Revolution led by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz transformed that reality and continues to strive to improve the quality of life, wellbeing and social justice for all of our people, thus implementing all human rights.

Continue reading Cuba will continue to build an ever freer, more democratic, just, and fraternal societ →

Palestinian

Since when has Cuba supported the Palestinian cause?

Author: Sergio Alejandro Gómez | informacion@granma.cu
may 15, 2018 16:05:19

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Since when has Cuba supported the Palestinian cause?
Foto: Granma

Cuba was one of the 13 countries that opposed the division of the Palestinian territory in the recently created United Nations Organization, back in 1947.

“I should like to explain very briefly why the Cuban delegation feels bound to vote against the plan for the partition of Palestine recommended by the Ad Hoc Committee,” stated Dr. Ernesto Dihigo, in November that year, at the second session of the UN General Assembly. (Following January 1, 1959, Dr. Dihigo continued to practice revolutionary diplomacy, and joined the Cuban Academy of Language).

The dignified position of our country in that forum saw the denunciation of the United Kingdom’s violation of international law through the Balfour Declaration, and the plan to grant a “national home” for the Jewish people in Palestinian territory.

“The Balfour Declaration, in our opinion, is not legally valid because in it the British Government was offering something which did not belong to it and which it had no right to give,” Dihigo stressed.

The Partition Plan for Palestine was later adopted by the UN General Assembly as Resolution 181, giving rise to the creation of the State of Israel.

Continue reading Since when has Cuba supported the Palestinian cause? →

Palestinian

Statement by the Revolutionary Government: Cuba condemns fresh attacks by Israel against the Palestinian people

May 15 at 5:46 PM

Statement by the Revolutionary Government: Cuba condemns fresh attacks by Israel against the Palestinian people
This act constitutes another grave and flagrant violation of the UN Charter and international humanitarian law and a new outrage against the Palestinian people

Granma may 15, 2018 15:05:15

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The international community criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to relocate the country’s Embassy to Jerusalem, a move that sparked protests which left dozens of Palestinians dead and thousands injured. Photo: EFE
The Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Cuba vehemently condemns the criminal attack on the defenseless Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip, by the Israeli Army which has killed at least 52 people and left over 2,400 injured.

This act constitutes another serious and flagrant violation of the UN Charter and international humanitarian law, and a new outrage against the Palestinian people.

Cuba reiterates its rejection of the unilateral steps taken by the United States to establish its diplomatic representation in the city of Jerusalem, in utter contempt of international law and the United Nations resolutions, and further aggravating tensions in the region.

The Revolutionary Government reiterates once again its unwavering support for a comprehensive, just, and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, on the basis of the creation of two states, and the Palestinian people’s right to free self-determination and a sovereign state according to the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Havana, May 15, 2018