Plane Crash in Northern Colombia Kills All 15 On Board, Including Lawmaker and Election Candidate
All 15 people aboard a passenger plane were killed after it crashed in northern Colombia, authorities confirmed.
Satena, the country’s state-run airline, said in a statement that the Beechcraft 1900 aircraft, operating Flight NSE 8849, “suffered a fatal accident” while flying to the city of Ocaña, near the Venezuelan border.
The airline provided no immediate explanation for the crash but confirmed that the wreckage has been located in a remote mountainous area.
The flight had departed from Cúcuta, roughly 100 kilometres northeast of Ocaña, carrying 13 passengers and two crew members. Contact with the plane was lost approximately 11 minutes before its scheduled arrival at 12:05 local time on Wednesday.
Among the victims are Colombian lawmaker Diógenes Quintero Amaya and Carlos Salcedo, a candidate in the upcoming congressional elections. Quintero, who held one of 16 special parliamentary seats reserved for victims of Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict, was remembered on his Facebook page as “a man who throughout his life served those who needed it most.”
Search and recovery operations are ongoing, with the Colombian armed forces assisting due to the difficult terrain and security risks in the area, which is reportedly under influence from the ELN guerrilla group.
Governor of Norte de Santander, William Villamizar, said that seven bodies have been recovered so far.
Authorities have also established a hotline to provide information and support to relatives of those on board.
President Gustavo Petro expressed his condolences on social media, saying he is “deeply sorry for these deaths” as investigations begin into the cause of the crash.
