A passenger aircraft crashed in northern Colombia, killing all 15 people on board, including crew members and passengers. The accident occurred near the Venezuelan border, Colombia’s state-owned airline Satena confirmed. The BBC reported the incident.
In a statement issued on Thursday (29 January), Satena said one of its Beechcraft 1900 aircraft was involved in a “serious accident.”
No further details were immediately provided. Later, the wreckage of the aircraft was located in a mountainous area.
According to the official passenger list, those on board included Colombian lawmaker Diógenes Quintero Amaya and Carlos Salcedo, a candidate in the upcoming congressional elections.
Satena said the aircraft lost contact 11 minutes before its scheduled landing at the border city of Ocaña at 12:05 pm local time (17:05 GMT) on Wednesday.
Airline data showed that flight NSE 8849 had departed from the city of Cúcuta, located about 100 kilometres (62 miles) northeast of Ocaña. There were 13 passengers and two crew members on board.
In an interview with local news outlet Semana, Norte de Santander Governor William Villamizar said that seven bodies had been recovered so far.
The area where the aircraft went missing is known to be under the control of Colombia’s ELN guerrilla group. The country’s armed forces are assisting in the search and recovery operation.
Meanwhile, Colombian President Gustavo Petro expressed his condolences on social media platform X, saying he was deeply saddened by the incident.
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