Cuban authorities said a state airliner flying from the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba to the capital Havana crashed in a mountainous area after declaring an emergency, killing all 68 people aboard, including 28 foreigners.

A CUBAN plane carrying 35 passengers and crew was hijacked on Wednesday night and forced to fly to Florida, where it landed in Key West under escort of US military jets, US and Cuban authorities said.

Cuban rescue teams were today pulling the bodies of 16 people - including four British tourists - from a dam in central Cuba after a small Soviet-made biplane crashed in a remote region.

Seventeen people, including 13 Western tourists, are feared dead today after a light aircraft crash in Cuba.