At least 12 dead in Honduras plane crash off the Caribbean coast

At least 12 people were killed after a plane crashed from the Honduras Caribbean coast on Monday night, officials said.

The aircraft – operated by the Honduran Lanhsa airline – crashed into the sea within a minute after departure from Roatan Island.

The National Police and the Honduran Fire Service separately stated that five people were rescued while one person is yet to be found.

The cause of the crash is still unknown, but the mayor of Roatan told local media that it was not because of the time, which is normal. The Honduran Civil Aeronautics Agency said it was under investigation.

The Jetstream 32 aircraft had taken off from Juan Manuel Manuel Galves at 18:18 local time (00:18 GMT on Tuesday) and was bound by the Golon International Airport in La Ceiba in the Honduran continent.

Civil Aviation officer Carlos Padila said, quoted by AFP news agency, that the aircraft “made a sharp turn to the right of the track and fell into the water”.

In a statement of social media, the government expressed “solidarity” with the victims’ families.

“The Honduras government is deeply sorry for the tragic incident in Roatan and joins the national mourning,” she added.

Following the crash, Honduran President Siomara Castro “immediately activated the Emergency Committee in the country, consisting of all emergency services, including the military, the police, the fire service, the Red Cross and the Ministry of Health.

Writing to X, she said the committee team “works tirelessly” to provide help.

“May God protect people’s lives,” Castro added.

Videos shared by social media staff showed rescue teams working in the darkness of the rocky shore, with small boats and stretchers.

In an X publication, accompanied by photographs, Honduran’s armed forces said survivors were taken to a hospital in San Pedro Sula by Air Force aircraft.

According to local media reports, Honduran Aurelio Martinez Swazo was the famous dead.

Swazo was a member of Garifuna, a nation of mixed radical and Afro-Caribbean origin, descended from St. Vincent Island, which has a distinct musical style.