A small plane crashed while taking off from the Honduran island of Roatan on Monday, leaving 12 people dead. Among the victims was prominent musician and Honduran politician Aurelio Martinez.
The civil aeronautics agency of Honduras said in a statement that the accident occurred on March 17 shortly after 6 p.m. local time at the Juan Manuel Gálvez International Airport when a Jetstream 32 carrying 15 passengers and two crew members attempted to depart for La Ceiba, a port city on the northern coast of Honduras.
Moments after takeoff, said the statement translated from Spanish, the aircraft plunged into the Caribbean Sea. Authorities have not yet confirmed what caused the crash.