Officials among 14 dead in plane crash

A small Honduran commercial airliner crashed yesterday near the capital, killing all 14 people aboard, including a senior government official and a top union leader, authorities said.

Two Americans and a Canadian were listed as passengers on the Central American Airlines' flight to Toncontin airport in Tegucigalpa, said Melvin Duarte, spokesman for the Attorney-general's office.

US and Canadian embassy officials said they would release details on the victims after notifying their families.

The Let L-410 Turbolet crashed in the town of Las Mesitas, about 5km south of the airport.

It was carrying two pilots and 12 passengers, including Assistant-secretary for Public Works Rodolfo Rovelo, United Workers Federation of Honduras leader Jose Israel Salinas and former economy secretary Carlos Chain, said airline manager Felix Pacheco.

"I'm destroyed, in shock, because of what happened," Pacheco said, adding that it was a regularly scheduled daily flight.

 

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