Three people have been pulled alive from the wreckage of a Cuban airliner which crashed after takeoff Friday with 104 passengers aboard, and are in a critical condition in hospital, state media said.

The country's President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who visited the crash site, warned earlier that many people were feared dead.

A Boeing 737 plane crashed on Friday shortly after taking off from Havana's main airport, Cuban state-run website Cubadebate had reported earlier, adding that it was not yet known if there were any casualties.

The plane was a domestic flight going to Holguin, state-run TV said.

Images on TV and social media had showed a large plume of black smoke above the airport.