La Ceiba, Honduras, Deputy Mayor Assassinated

[Jeff Dunsavage]

Unknown gunmen on Tuesday shot dead the deputy mayor of the Caribbean port city of La Ceiba, Ángel Salinas, when he was driving to his office, police chief Oswaldo Flores said.

“He had just left his house when two men on a motorcycle approached his car and shot him. They left him wounded, but he died minutes after he arrived at the hospital,” Flores said.

He said police officers are conducting a sweep La Ceiba, Honduras’ third largest city, located 400 km north of the capital.

“Municipal officials had been offered security, which is provided to many other public officials, but they did not take threats against them seriously,” Flores said.

Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world, at 92 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the United Nations.