A passenger plane has crashed in northern Colombia, killing all 15 people on board, the country’s state-run airline Satena confirmed.
In a statement, it said its aircraft - a Beechcraft 1900 - “suffered a fatal accident”, but gave no further details. The wreckage has now been located in a mountainous area.
The official passenger list includes lawmaker Diogenes Quintero Amaya and Carlos Salcedo, a candidate in upcoming congressional elections.
Satena earlier said contact with the plane was lost 11 minutes before it had been scheduled to land in the city of Ocaña, near the Venezuelan border, at 12:05 local time (17:05 GMT) on Wednesday.
According to the airline, Flight NSE 8849 took off from the city of Cúcuta, about 100km (62 miles) north-east from Ocaña, carrying 13 passengers and two crew members.
A search operation was immediately launched in the mountainous area, and a hotline was set up for the relatives of those who were on the plane.
Colombia’s armed forces have been helping with the search effort in the area where the plane went missing, which has areas controlled by Colombia’s ELN guerrilla group.
Source: BBC
- Agencies
