A plane carrying 104 passengers and nine crew has crashed after taking off from Havana's Jose Marti International Airport.

The plane crashed in a farm field where firefighters sprayed the charred fuselage with hoses. There was no immediate word on casualties.

The Boeing 737 was operated by state airline Cubana, according to Cuban state media.

Officials said the plane was headed to the eastern city of Holguin when it crashed a short distance from the end of the runway on the southern outskirts of Havana.

Government officials including President Miguel Diaz-Canel rushed to the site, along with a large number of emergency medical workers.

Residents of the rural area said they had seen some survivors being taken away in ambulances.

Relatives of passengers were being asked to gather at an airline terminal.

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

The airline is notorious among Cubans for its frequent delays and cancellations, which Cubana blames on a lack of parts and airplanes due to the US trade embargo on the island.

Friday's crash was Cuba's third major fatal accident since 2010.

Last year, a Cuban military plane crashes into a hillside in the western province of Artemisa, killing eight troops on board.

In November 2010, an AeroCaribbean flight from Santiago to Havana went down in bad weather as it flew over central Cuba, killing all 68 people, including 28 foreigners, in what was Cuba's worst air disaster in more than two decades.