The dead number in the accident of an plane on the island of Roatán, in the Caribbean of Honduras, which fell on Monday, March 17 to the sea with passengers and its two pilots, rose to 12, the Fire Department reported.
At the beginning it was reported that at least six people died when an aircraft left the track when it took off from the Honduran Caribbean Island of Roatán and fell into the sea; However, the death figure increased.
“10 people were rescued and they just informed us from the hospital that six have died,” the Major Wilmer Guerrero, of the Fire Department in one of the first reports told journalists.
Initially, officials had indicated that the occupants were 17, but then the Firefighters and the Police specified that there were 18.
The Guerrero officer added that “it would be necessary to rescue eight people who are in the aircraft. Coordinations are going to be diving.”
The Lanhsa company plane took off the night from Roatán, one of the islands of the Bay and one of the main tourist destinations in Honduras, destined for the port of La Ceiba, on the mainland.
The aircraft “suffered a sharp turn towards the right side of the track at the time of takeoff, falling into the water,” said Carlos Padilla, an official of civil aeronautics.
The Jetstream 41 plane “suffered an apparent mechanical failure at the time of takeoff and lost course towards CEIBA,” said the Honduran police in a statement.
“The aircraft, which transported 15 passengers, two pilots and a hostess, lost strength on the engines and fell to the sea approximately to a kilometer from the air track,” he added.
We continue to rescue victims of plane crash in Roatán! @hegusave @Martinezmadrid_ pic.twitter.com/ssJHD20W5K
– National Police of Honduras (@Policiahonduras) March 18, 2025
We are present in the rescue of the affected people of this plane crash
An aircraft fell into the sea with at least fifteen people on board in Roatán.@hegusave @Martinezmadrid_ @hegusave pic.twitter.com/c8ymg9yci7
– National Police of Honduras (@Policiahonduras) March 18, 2025
Singer dies
Among the deceased is the singer -songwriter Aurelio Martínez Suazo, of the Garifuna ethnic group, American nationalized, and the French citizen Helen Odile Guibar, one of three survivors who were sent to a hospital in San Pedro Sula (North), the second most important city in Honduras.
The director of the Public Hospital of Roatán, Ruth Cacho, confirmed the death of Martínez Suazo, also former deputy of the Honduran Parliament for the opposition Liberal Party.
Helen Odile Guibar apparently was Martínez Suazo’s travel companion, one of the greatest exponents of Garifuna music and dance.
The aircraft pilots were identified by the LANHSA company as Luis Araya and Francisco Lagos.
The causes of the accident accident are unknown, which is submerged about 50 meters deep, according to various sources.