Tegucigalpa, April 24 (IANS/EFE): Four people were killed Wednesday when their small aircraft crashed and burst into flames near the western Honduran city of Gracias, the authorities said.
The accident occurred on the day President Juan Orlando Hernandez traveled to Gracias - his hometown - to inaugurate a new airport.
"Deeply moved for the victims of the air accident, may the presence of god be a balm for their families in these difficult moments," the president said on Twitter after learning of the crash.
The dead included student pilot Hamilton San Martin and all three passengers - Doris Guillen, Lilian Isabel Mondragon and her son Franco Jose Diaz, a rescue official said.
The authorities are trying to determine the cause of the accident, Honduran civil aviation director, Col. Jose Navarro, told reporters.
"The plane was not overloaded and we don't know what happened," he said.