At least 27 dead, nine missing as fishing boat sinks off coast of Honduras

At least 27 people died and nine were missing Wednesday when their fishing boat sank off the Caribbean coast of Honduras, the country’s military said.

Armed forces spokesman Jose Meza said that 55 people survived when the vessel sank off the remote coastal Mosquitia region.

Ninety-one people were aboard the boat, the 70-tonne “Wallie,” when it set sail from Cabo Gracias a Dios – on the country’s easternmost point bordering Nicaragua – after a seasonal ban on lobster fishing was lifted.

The boat sank near Cayo Gorda, a tiny island just northeast of their point of departure. The cause of the disaster was not immediately clear.

Meza added that the bodies and the survivors would be taken to Puerto Lempira, the main city in eastern Honduras.