A small commercial plane crashed off the coast of Honduras, killing 12 people, including a renowned Garifuna musician, authorities said.

The Lanza Airlines plane, en route from Roatan island to the mainland of La Ceiba, crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff on Monday night.

It was carrying 17 passengers and crew, five of whom were rescued and taken to hospital.

The plane failed to reach full altitude and sank quickly after the collision, police reported. Local fishermen said survivors were rescued.

The Honduran Civil Aviation Agency said the crash was under investigation.

Among the victims was Aurelio Martinez Suazo, a former congressman and member of the Garifuna ethnic group of mixed African and indigenous heritage. Martinez Suazo also became a U.S. citizen. His representative, Hélène Odile Guarache, a French citizen, was also among the survivors.

Martinez Suazo was originally from Gracias, in the Dios region on Honduras’ Caribbean coast.

“We are devastated,” said his nephew, Ángel Aparicio Fernández Martinez, a musician who played with his uncle. “He was the pillar of the family.”

Martinez Suazo was a member of Los Gatos Bravos before forming his own group, Lita Ariran. His first album, “Garifuna Soul,” took him to Europe, the United States and other parts of the world.

“He was the greatest representative of Garifuna music from Honduras on a global stage,” his nephew said.

Humberto Castillo, president of the African Descendants Association of the Sula Valley, called Martínez Suazo an “ambassador of Garifuna culture,” noting that he spoke Garifuna and Miskito and composed music in both languages.

The bodies of the victims were taken from Roatán to the morgue in San Pedro Sula.