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Two Honduran vessels were shipwrecked on Wednesday after reports of their disappearance were announced by the maritime authorities.
The Government of Honduras reported Thursday that it will investigate the death of 27 people in a wreck of two vessels which happened in the Caribbean on Wednesday.
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The Permanent Contingency Commission (Copeco) director Lisandro Rosales will be in charge of monitoring the investigation of the wreck of the Captain Waly vessel, which occurred near Cayo Gorda, at the Gracias a Dios department.
This boat was carrying 91 people, 55 of whom were rescued and nine are missing. So far only one of the deceased could be identified, namely, the boat's captain, Austin Haylock, according to the Armed Forces of Honduras.
The second shipwrecked vessel was carrying 49 people, all of whom were rescued. A team of ten doctors and nurses, which was sent by the Health Ministry, moved to the Caratasca Naval Base to provide care to the survivors.
An Air Force plane also traveled Friday to the sector to assist in the transfer of victims of both shipwrecks.
Una tragedia enluta al pueblo hondureño tras el naufragio de la embarcación Capitán Wallie, dejando como resultado 26 personas fallecidas y 47 rescatados con vida #Honduras #ULTIMAHORA pic.twitter.com/bbr5NjS0hu
— Tania (@TaniaEl19) July 4, 2019
A tragedy mourns the Honduran people after the wreck of the ship Captain Wallie, which left 26 people dead and 47 rescued alive. Honduras. Last Minute.
So far, the Honduran authorities have not reported on the causes of the shipwrecks, although Jose Domingo Meza, the Armed Forces spokesman, said that the boat Waly could have been overweight.
This 70-ton vessel had left Puerto Lempira to fish in Caribbean waters once the lobster ban was over, as reported by local media La Prensa.
Merchant Marine director Juan Carlos Rivera explained that fishing entrepreneurs often contract boats whose owners hire needy people who dive to catch lobsters in deep water.
"The boats only have capacity for 30 or 40 persons but [entrepreneurs] overload them with twice as many people," Molina said, adding that each diver earns about US$1,250 for a 15-day fishing journey.
"It's a good income in a country where there is no money," he commented. However, such work is risky because "thousands of Hondurans are crippled by having submerged unprotected" to great depths.
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