Authorities say it crashed a number of seconds after taking off from a Caribbean island close to mainland Honduras on Monday. Amongst these killed was Aurelio Martinez, a well-liked Honduras musician and politician. stated in an announcement.
The Jetstream 32 plane carried 15 passengers and two crew members as they departed Monday night from the airport on Roatan Island, a civil aviation company in Honduras. stated in an announcement. The flight vacation spot was Lativa, a metropolis close to the nation’s north coast, the company stated.
Honduras nationwide police I stated it on social media Twelve folks died on the aircraft, and 5 survived. Survivors had been pulled out of the ocean by fishermen who labored close to the crash website, stated Franklin Borjas, hearth chief for the close by Santos Guardiola metropolis of Santos Guardiola the place the crash occurred.
Aldea Aleman, one of many fishermen; I stated An area information channel claims that after the crash he started to see the stays within the water. He then realized that some folks had been alive, drowning and looking for assist. He and one other fisherman start to drag them right into a small boat, rescue the 4 of them earlier than handing over to the firefighters, he stated.
“They had been stunning – they simply needed to get on the boat,” he stated. Some folks had bones protruding from their our bodies, he stated. Others had been severely injured.
video Posted By the nationwide police On social media They line up alongside rocky coastlines to point out rescuers, pulling folks out of the water after which inserting them on stretchers.
Authorities had been nonetheless making an attempt to drag out the co-pilot, but it surely remained trapped within the water contained in the aircraft, Borjas stated. Borjas added that it’s going to take extra time to retrieve the fuselage and black containers of the plane. It is because the world the place the aircraft crashed is surrounded by coral reefs, making it tough to navigate.
5 individuals who survived the crash had been taken by aircraft to a hospital in San Pedrosla, Borjas stated.
Singer and songwriter Martinez was one of many greatest performers and supporters of the music of the Garifuna folks, a descendant of the indigenous Caribbean folks, a slave African who settled on the Caribbean coast of Central America.
In response to his document label, Actual World Data, he was the founding father of Lita Ariran, one of many first Garifna teams to carry out on internationally distributed recordings. He later turned the Honduras Parliament, one of many first black representatives on the Nationwide Congress.
“Aurelio was greater than only a musician. He was a politician, spokesman and an vital savior of the tradition of the folks of Galihuna in Honduras,” his document label wrote in an announcement. “His losses are felt past the Garifuna folks by an viewers all over the world who love and cherish Caribbean tradition.”
The reason for the crash was not instantly clear. The Civil Aviation Company stated the investigation has begun.
Round 35 miles from mainland Honduras, Roatan is the most important of the Bay Islands and is a well-liked Caribbean vacation spot for divers looking for untouched coral reefs.
