HAVANA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The news of the crash of a Boeing 737 outside Havana on Friday caused consternation across Cuba.

The plane, rented by local company Cubana de Aviacion from the Mexican airline Damojh, crashed at 12:08 p.m. (1608 GMT), shortly after taking off from Havana's Jose Marti International Airport.

At the moment, the number of deaths is still unknown. There are at least three survivors among the 104 passengers and five Mexican crew members, but they are in critical condition.

Over the last 30 years, the island has seen four important plane crashes on its territory.

The most recent disaster occurred in April 2017, when a military aircraft, AN-26, crashed in the western province of Artemisa, killing eight people on board.

In November 2010, an AeroCaribbean flight crashed when flying on the Santiago de Cuba to Havana route. All 68 people on board were killed, including 40 Cubans and 28 foreigners.

The most serious event happened in September 1989, when a plane bound for Milan, Italy, crashed soon after taking off from Havana. All 115 passengers and 11 crew members as well as dozens of other people in the village died in the accident.