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A small plane crashed Wednesday in a rural area of northeastern Colombia’s Norte de Santander state, killing 15 people on board, including a congressman, officials said.
State airline Satena, which operated the flight, said officials from the Kurasika community had notified authorities of the crash site and that a rescue team had been deployed to “assess the condition of the passengers”.
A later statement by Colombia’s transport ministry said after the plane was found, “authorities have regrettably confirmed that there were no survivors.”
The plane took off at 11:42 a.m. from the airport in Cucuta, where the department is located, to Okana Municipality, which is surrounded by mountains. The flight typically lasts about 40 minutes.
The cause of the accident is not yet known.
The plane’s last contact with air traffic control was minutes after takeoff, Satellite said in a statement.
Officials did not say what caused the crash, but said an investigation would be conducted.
The small plane was carrying two crew members and 13 passengers, including 36-year-old Diogenes Quintero, a member of the House of Representatives of Catatumbo, the airline said.
Quintero was a prominent human rights activist near the border with Venezuela, where he came from and where the disaster took place.
Uncertainty in Venezuela has spilled over to neighboring Colombia, especially after US President Donald Trump announced that the US may take action following the arrest of Colombian President Gustavo Petro Nicolas Maduro.
Quintero, who is a lawyer by profession, In 2022, he was elected as one of 16 representatives in the lower house to represent the more than nine million victims of Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict.
The seats were created as part of a historic 2016 peace deal between the Colombian government and the country’s largest guerrilla group, the FARC.
In a statement, Quintero U’s party expressed regret over his death, calling it “a leader committed to his region, a firm call to service.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on social media: “I am deeply saddened by these deaths. I offer my deepest condolences to their families. May they rest in peace.”