Honduras probes fishing boat disaster after 27 die
Updated 12:15, 05-Jul-2019
CGTN
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Honduran authorities said Thursday they are investigating the causes of an accident in which at least 27 people died after their fishing boat sank off the Caribbean coast.

The boat sank Wednesday in the remote Mosquitia coastal region after heading out to sea when a seasonal ban on lobster fishing was lifted. 

Families began the grim task of identifying the bodies on Thursday. They were brought by boat to a sandbar off the coast where the bodies were being collected. 

The Directorate of Forensic Medicine said a team of nine experts had been sent to the area to help recover and identify the victims.

Ninety-one people were aboard the boat, the 70-ton "Wallie," when it set sail from Cabo Gracias a Dios on the country's easternmost point bordering Nicaragua.

The "Wallie" sank near Cayo Gorda, a tiny island just northeast of their point of departure. Fifty-five people were rescued. Nine are still missing.

Relatives carry the coffin of a loved one who died on the eve when a boat capsized off the Atlantic coast of Honduras, at Catarasca Naval Base in Puerto Lempira, Honduras, July 4 2019./ VCG Photo

Relatives carry the coffin of a loved one who died on the eve when a boat capsized off the Atlantic coast of Honduras, at Catarasca Naval Base in Puerto Lempira, Honduras, July 4 2019./ VCG Photo

Soldiers and forensic personnel work in the identification of victims of a boat accident off the Atlantic coast of Honduras, at Catarasca Naval Base in Puerto Lempira, Honduras, July 4 2019./ VCG Photo

Soldiers and forensic personnel work in the identification of victims of a boat accident off the Atlantic coast of Honduras, at Catarasca Naval Base in Puerto Lempira, Honduras, July 4 2019./ VCG Photo

A relative of a victim of a boat accident reacts at Catarasca Naval Base, Puerto Lempira, Gracias a Dios department, July 4 2019./ VCG Photo

A relative of a victim of a boat accident reacts at Catarasca Naval Base, Puerto Lempira, Gracias a Dios department, July 4 2019./ VCG Photo

"It is clear that the tragedy happened because the boat was overloaded," said local journalist Jacinto Molina. 

The region is one of Honduras' poorest -- accessible from the rest of the country only by sea or plane -- and lobster fishing is an important source of incomes.

Merchant Marine director Juan Carlos Rivera said authorities have suspended permits for up to three years for boats whose owners bring on too many fishermen.

"The boats only have a capacity for 30 or 40 people but they overload them by double," said Molina. 

Some go out to sea with up to 100 people on board.

Boat captains on occasion hire up to 50 divers. Lobster diving is risky and each diver earns up to 1.25 U.S. dollars a trip, while each boatman gets around 600 dollars.

"It's good income in a country where there is no money," said Molina. However, many divers suffer debilitating injuries from diving too deep or staying underwater too long to collect lobsters.

Source(s): AFP