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More than 100 people have died after a Boeing 737 crashed and exploded in Cuba.

The plane came down moments after take-off from Jose Marti International Airport in the country's capital Havana.

Three people survived the crash but were rushed to hospital in a critical condition, Cuban media reported.

It had been carrying 104 passengers and nine foreign crew when it crashed between the airport in southern Havana and the nearby town of Santiago de las Vegas.

Wreckage was strewn over the area 20 km south of Havana and ambulances and firefighters were at the scene, witnesses said. Blackened parts of the fuselage were visible.

"We heard an explosion and then saw a big cloud of smoke go up," said Gilberto Menendez, who runs a restaurant near the crash site in the agricultural area of Boyeros.

Carlos Alberto Martinez, the director of Havana's Calixto Garcia hospital, told Reuters four victims of the accident had been brought there. One had died and the other three were in a serious condition.

"She is alive but very burnt and swollen," said a distressed relative of one of the survivors at the hospital.

The flight was destined for Holguin in eastern Cuba and was leased by airline Cubana from a small Mexican airline called Damojh or Global, Cuban state media said. Holguin has some of the island's most pristine beaches, and attracts tourists.

The plane was rented by Cubana, which has taken many of its ageing planes out of service in recent months due to mechanical problems.