Photo: Unrelated photo of a plane crash
All 15 people on board a passenger aircraft were killed after it crashed in northern Colombia, the country’s state-run airline, Satena, has confirmed.
In a statement on Wednesday, Satena said its Beechcraft 1900 aircraft “suffered a fatal accident” while en route to the city of Ocaña, near the Venezuelan border. The airline did not immediately disclose the cause of the crash but confirmed that the wreckage had been located in a remote mountainous area.
The aircraft, Flight NSE 8849, departed from the city of Cúcuta, about 100 kilometres north-east of Ocaña, carrying 13 passengers and two crew members. Contact with the plane was lost approximately 11 minutes before its scheduled landing at 12:05 p.m. local time.
Among the victims were Colombian lawmaker Diógenes Quintero Amaya and Carlos Salcedo, a candidate in the upcoming congressional elections. A statement posted on Quintero’s Facebook page described him as “a man who throughout his life served those who needed it most.”
Quintero occupied one of the 16 special seats in Colombia’s parliament reserved for victims of the country’s decades-long armed conflict involving the state and rebel groups, including the now-demobilised Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Search and recovery operations are ongoing at the crash site, with Colombia’s armed forces assisting due to the rugged terrain and security concerns. Parts of the area are known to be under the influence of the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group.
The governor of Norte de Santander, William Villamizar, told local outlet Semana that seven bodies had so far been recovered. Authorities have also set up a hotline to provide information and support to the families of those on board.
President Gustavo Petro expressed his condolences on social media, saying he was “deeply sorry for these deaths,” as investigators begin work to determine the cause of the crash.
