A small commercial plane crash off the coast of Honduras left 12 people dead, including a well-known Garifuna musician, authorities said.
The Lanhsa Airlines flight crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff Monday night from the island of Roatan en route to the mainland city of La Ceiba.
It carried 17 passengers and crew, five of whom were rescued and hospitalized.
Police reported that the plane failed to reach full altitude and sank quickly after impact. Local fishermen rescued the survivors.
The Honduran Civil Aeronautics Agency said the crash is under investigation.
Among the victims was Aurelio Martínez Suazo, a former member of Congress and member of the Garifuna ethnic group, which is of mixed African and Indigenous heritage. Martínez Suazo also held U.S. citizenship. His representative, Helene Odile Guivarch, a French citizen, was among the survivors.