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Tegucigalpa: Seven people were killed after a jetliner overshot a runway and raced onto a busy street in the Honduran capital on Friday. At least 80 people were injured.
The pilot, two passengers and a motorist on the ground were among those who died in the incident.
The Grupo Taca Airbus A320, with 140 people on board, was flying a Los Angeles-San Salvador-Tegucigalpa route and was scheduled to head next to Miami. It ended up with its nosed smashed against a roadside embankment and its fuselage buckled and broken in places.
Authorities frantically hosed down cars trapped beneath the wreckage as thousands of gallons of fuel gushed from the jet.
Rescuers pried open part of the wreckage to get the pilot and co-pilot out, but the pilot didn't survive, said Cesar Villalta, director of Honduras' military hospital.
Passenger Harry Brautigam, a Nicaraguan who headed a regional development bank, died of heart failure. The body of a man trapped under the wreckage was believed to be a taxi driver.
Janneth Shantall, the wife of Brazilian Ambassador Brian Michael Fraser Neele, was also killed in the crash. The former head of Honduras' armed forces, General Daniel Lopez Carballo, was also among the injured.
A statement from the office of President Manuel Zelaya said the flight originated in Los Angeles and that 65 people were injured in crash. Taca spokeswoman Sofia Valverde said the flight was scheduled to continue on to Miami.
Taca released a statement saying there were seven Americans, two Spaniards, three Mexicans, two Colombians and nine Argentines aboard the flight. Almost all the remaining passengers were from Central American countries.
There was no official cause given for the crash, but weather may have also been a factor. The runway was wet with rain from Tropical Storm Alma.
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