At least 27 people died and nine were missing when their fishing boat sank off the Caribbean coast of Honduras yesterday.

Armed forces Spokesman Jose Meza said that 55 people survived when the vessel sank off the remote coastal Mosquitia region.

Ninety-one people were aboard the boat when it set sail from Cabo Gracias a Dios on the country’s easternmost point bordering Nicaragua after a seasonal ban on lobster fishing was lifted.

The boat sank near Cayo Gorda, a tiny island northeast of the point of departure. The cause of the disaster was not immediately known. Meza added that the bodies and the survivors would be taken to Puerto Lempira, the main city in eastern Honduras.

Hours before the “Wallie” sank, another overloaded fishing boat  “Miss Francely” went under in the same area. In all, 49 people were rescued from that boat which had a capacity to carry 31 people.