A small plane crashes off a Caribbean island in Honduras, killing 12
A tiny passenger jet crashed seconds after takeoff from a Caribbean island near mainland Honduras on Monday, killing all but five of the 17 persons on board, according to officials. Aurelio Martínez, a prominent Honduran singer and politician, was among those slain, according to a statement from his record company.
At 18:18 local time (00:18 GMT on Tuesday), the Jetstream 32 aircraft took off from the island's Juan Manuel Gálvez International Airport, heading for Golosón International Airport in La Ceiba, Honduras.
According to civil aviation authority Carlos Padilla, the aircraft "made a sharp turn to the right of the runway and fell into the water".
The Honduran National Police said on social media that 12 persons on the plane perished and five survived. The survivors were rescued from the ocean by fisherman working near the disaster site, according to Franklin Borjas, fire chief for the town of Santos Guardiola, where the incident occurred.
One of the fisherman, Aldair Alemán, told a local news program that he began spotting victims in the sea shortly after the accident. He suddenly noticed that some of the victims were alive, drowning, and pleading for assistance. He and another fisherman started bringing them into their little boat, saving four people and handed them over to firemen, he added.
“They were in a moment of shock — they just wanted to get on the boat” he said. Some people had bones protruding from their bodies, he said; others had severe facial injuries.
According to Mr. Borjas, the five survivors of the crash were flown to a hospital in San Pedro Sula.
After the incident, Honduran President Xiomara Castro "immediately activated" the country's emergency committee, which included all emergency services such as the military, police, fire department, Red Cross, and Ministry of Health.
Writing on X, she stated that the committee team was "working tirelessly" to assist.
"May God protect people's lives," Castro added.
The cause of the collision was not immediately known. The civil aviation authorities said that an inquiry has commenced.
