Local media and officials reported that at least twelve people died in a small plane crash into the Caribbean Sea after it took off from Roatan Island, Honduras. Lanhsa Airlines took off the plane at nightfall from Roatan, one of Central America’s top tourist destinations, and headed for the port of La Ceiba on the Honduran mainland.
Carlos Padilla said the civil aviation official that the plane had “made a sharp turn to the right and then fell in the water.”
A plane almost hit us. I was fishing, said a man who refused to give his name on HCH TV.
According to the fire department, 12 people were killed in the accident. Five other victims had been rescued.
In a dramatic video posted on social media by the national police, rescue workers are seen carrying a survivor to the rocky shore in a stretcher. The police reported that one body was still missing as the rescue teams searched.
Borjas said the terrain was complicating search and recovery efforts.
He said it was hard to reach the accident scene because there were 30 meters of rocks. He said that rescue divers had no visibility.
Local media reported Aurelio Martin as one of the dead. Aurelio Martinez was a Garifuna musician who was well-known in Honduras.
According to the Kennedy Center: “Martinez’s virtuosic music and passionate performances have made him a mainstay of the La Cieba Music Scene. He is best known for punta rock, the high-energy, Garifuna-rooted pop genre that swept Central America during the 1990s. “
Major Wilmer Guerrero of the fire department said that among the injured passengers was a French citizen aged 40. He was transported to a San Pedro Sula hospital.
The police reported that there were 15 passengers, two pilots, and a flight attendant on board.
The police said that the Jetstream 41 aircraft made by British engineers was responsible for the crash. It occurred about half a mile from the coast.
Xiomara Castro, Honduran President, stated that she had “immediately activated” an emergency committee made up of firefighters, armed force personnel, and other personnel in order to assist the victims.
