Seven people died and 10 were injured after a plane crashed on the Honduras coast minutes after taking off from Roatan Island, the firefighters chief said on Monday (17).
JetStream aircraft operated by Honduran airline Lanhsa was carrying 14 passengers and three crew members, according to the country’s transport minister, who said the wreckage were found about 1 kilometer from the island’s coast.
According to the flight manifesto shown by the local media, passengers included an American citizen, a French citizen and two minors. The plane was scheduled to fly to La Ceiba airport, in.
The Roatan Fire Department, led by Franklin Borjas and the local police detailed their in progress rescue efforts.
The musician Aurelio Martinez Suazo was among the dead, according to the rescue authorities.
A video sent to social networks by the National Police showed agents and other rescuers carrying survivors to a rocky region, some in stretchers, while a boat emitted a strong light in the darkness.
The cause of the accident has not yet been identified. The airline did not respond immediately to the request for comment.
Borjas told Reuters that the survivors were transported to a nearby hospital, while confirmed that the accident occurred shortly after the island plane’s takeoff.
Roatan, the largest of the Bay islands near the coast, is a popular tourist attraction famous for its coral reefs.
The head of the firefighters noted that the conditions of the region complicated the search and rescue.
“It has been difficult to access the scene of the accident because there are 30 meters of stones and you can’t get there walking or swimming,” he said.
“The divers that help in the rescue have zero visibility,” he added.
