By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-18 14:16:25 | Updated at 2025-03-20 15:23:33
2 days ago
A plane crashed just off the Caribbean coast of Honduras on Monday night minutes after taking off from Roatan Island, killing 12 people, authorities said, while five survived the crash and one person remains missing.
The wreckage of the small Jetstream aircraft, operated by Honduran airline Lanhsa, was found about 1km (0.6 miles) off the island’s coast, according to the country’s transport minister.
“At approximately 9am the recovery of the last victim of the accident will continue,” Honduras’ firefighters’ corps said on social media early on Tuesday. “We expect better weather and visibility.”
According to the flight manifest shown by local media, the passengers included a US national, a French national and two minors. The plane was scheduled to fly to La Ceiba airport on the Honduran mainland.
Well-known Garifuna musician Aurelio Martinez Suazo was among the dead, according to fire officials.
Dramatic video footage uploaded to social media by the national police showed officers and other rescuers carrying survivors onto a rocky coastline, some in stretchers, as a nearby boat shone a bright light amid the darkness.
