Photo courtesy of adena.ca

Canadian Milan Egrmajer (58) was killed on Thursday after a gang of men swarmed his small yacht, named the Adena, off the northern coast of Honduras. His daughter, Myda Egrmajer (24) managed to fend off the attackers, but was forced to remain on board the boat with her father’s body for hours until she was rescued. She is safe in Belize.

Miss Egrmajer was cruising the Caribbean Sea with her father. She had been on board a few weeks when bad weather forced them to dock in a sheltered area. The two were in a lagoon near an island about 30 kilometres north of the Honduran coast, off the port community of Tela, when their boat was swarmed by gunmen who tried to rob them.

Myda used a flare gun to scare off the assailants, then remained on the sailboat for several hours while Honduran officials searched for her through the bad weather. By the time the weather cleared on Friday, Myda had been picked up by an Australian private vessel and was en route to Belize.

Canadian Foreign Affairs have warned people travelling to Honduras should be very cautious in light of an increase in violent crime, and never display signs of affluence. “Canadians are advised to exercise a high degree of caution at all times, including in the vicinity of hotels, in airports, bus terminals, shopping malls and other public places,” the government website says.

The website lists Tela, along with a handful of other areas, as an area where foreign tourists are often targeted, and also warns Canadians that incidents of sexual assault sometimes involve the use of sedative drugs.

A spokeswoman with the Department of Foreign Affairs said Canadian officials are aware of an incident involving two Canadians citizens in Honduras, and said Canadian representatives on the ground have confirmed that the surviving citizen has been located and is safe. Officials in Honduras, as well as Foreign Affairs in Ottawa, are continuing to investigate.