A plane carrying 17 people has crashed into the sea in Honduras, killing 12 passengers.
The small aircraft plunged into the Caribbean Sea just moments after taking off from tropical Roatán Island.
Twelve people were killed when the Jetstream 32 flight crashed into the waves yesterday evening around half a mile from the island.
Five people reportedly survived the crash, which happened after the plane had taken off from mainland Honduras on its way to the city of La Ceiba, the New York Times reports.
Authorities said that the body of one of the people killed was still missing and recovery efforts continue at the crash site.
Why did the plane crash in Honduras?
The cause of the crash is not yet known, but an investigation has been launched.
It could have been caused by an ‘apparent mechanical failure,’ the local police said in a statement.
Carlos Padilla, a civil aviation official, said the plane ‘made a sharp turn to the right of the runway and fell into the water.’
A fisherman told the HCH television how the ‘plane almost fell on us’ when he was out at sea.
Among the victims is allegedly Honduran musician Aurelio Martinez, a popular member of the Garifuna music scene, CBS News reports citing local media.
He founded the Lita Ariran ensemble, one of the first Garifuna groups to get international distribution.
One of the injured survivors is a 40-year-old French citizen who was being taken to a hospital in San Pedro Sula on the mainland.
Xiomara Castro, the Honduran president, said on social media platform X she ‘immediately activated’ the emergency operations with the armed forces, fire service, national police and the Red Cross.
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‘May God protect their lives,’ she wrote.
It comes after passengers had a dramatic escape when an American Airlines plane made an emergency landing at Denver Airport.
Passengers had to escape on the wings of the plane when the cabin suddenly filled with smoke.
Roatan Island, which sits around 40 miles north of Honduras’s mainland, is a popular holiday destination boasting lush nature, pristine waters and wildlife.
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