Tegucigalpa, January 25 (RHC)-- A former Honduran minister has been shot dead by gunmen, police say. A statement from Honduras' Police Department released to the media on Sunday confirmed the incident, adding that the gunmen escaped the scene in La Ceiba about 400 kilometers north of the country's capital, Tegucigalpa.

While driving to his apartment building, three gunmen attacked Marco Julio Trochez and hit him with at least seven bullets. A friend accompanying Trochez was also struck by four bullets but remained in "satisfactory" conditions at a hospital.

Its not clear who was behind the assassination of Trochez, the youth minister under President Porfirio Lobo Sosa between 2010 and 2014.

Honduras is known as the murder capital of the world. Corruption, a huge wealth gap, crime and natural disasters have made the country one of the least developed secure ones in Central America.

Until the mid-1980s, Honduras, was dominated by the military which supported U.S. attempts to put down revolutionary movements in the region. Since then, civilian leaders have sought to curb the power of the military with little success.

Economic inequality, malnutrition, poor housing, and infant diseases are widespread in the Honduran society. The government says that at least 14 people are killed daily despite a promise by President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who pledged last year to combat corruption and impunity "no matter who falls."