At least 12 people have been killed after a plane crashed off the Caribbean coast of Honduras on Monday evening, officials said.
The aircraft – operated by Honduran airline Lanhsa – crashed into the sea within a minute of take-off from the island of Roatán.
The Honduran national police and fire department separately said five people had been rescued, while one person is yet to be found.
The cause of the crash is not yet known, but Roatán’s mayor told local media it wasn’t because of the weather, which was normal. The Honduran Civil Aeronautics Agency said an investigation was under way.
The Jetstream 32 aircraft had taken off from the island’s Juan Manuel Gálvez International Airport at 18:18 local time (00:18 GMT on Tuesday), and was bound for Golosón International Airport in La Ceiba on the Honduran mainland.
Civil aviation official Carlos Padilla said, quoted by AFP news agency, that the plane “made a sharp turn to the right of the runway and fell into the water”.
In a statement on social media, the government expressed “solidarity” with the families of the victims.
“The Government of Honduras deeply regrets the tragic accident in Roatán and joins in the national mourning,” it added.
Following the crash, Honduran President Xiomara Castro “immediately activated” the country’s emergency committee, comprised of all emergency services including the military, police, fire department, Red Cross and the Ministry of Health.
Writing on X, she said the committee team was “working tirelessly” to provide assistance.
“May God protect people’s lives,” Castro added.
Videos shared by officials on social media showed rescue teams working in darkness along a rocky coastline, with small boats and stretchers.
In a post on X accompanied by photos, the Honduran armed forces said survivors with injuries were taken to a hospital in the city of San Pedro Sula by air force planes.
According to local media reports, among the dead was well-known Honduran musician Aurelio Martinez Suazo.
Suazo was a member of the Garifuna, a people of mixed indigenous and Afro-Caribbean descent originating from the island of St Vincent which has a distinct musical style.
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