To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to an internet
browser that
supports HTML5
video
A plane carrying 15 people has crashed in Colombia near the Venezuelan border, killing all on board.
The Satena Airlines Flight HK4709 had just taken off from the town of Cucuta near the country’s border with Venezuela when it suddenly disappeared from radar.
The Beechcraft 1900 plane carrying 13 passengers and two crew had ‘suffered a fatal accident,’ the airline said. The aircraft’s emergency beacon was not activated, it added.
It crashed right into a mountainside around 12 minutes into the 23-minute flight to Ocana after losing control with air traffic controllers.
The plane was missing for greater than three hours before it was positioned within the Playa de Belen municipality in an area controlled by the ELN guerrilla group.
Colombia’s army was called in to support search-and-rescue efforts.
Who was on board?
There have been no survivors within the crash, Colombia’s civil aviation authority confirmed.
Passengers included Diógenes Quintero, 36, a member of the House of Representatives, and Carlos Salcedo Salaza, a candidate within the upcoming elections.
Quintero was a outstanding human rights lawyer, who had supported victims of the country’s protracted armed conflict between guerrillas, drug gangs and the military, before elected in 2022.
Seven bodies have been recovered from the wreckage after authorities were alerted to the crash site by local residents who spotted plane debris.
Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, said on social media: ‘I’m deeply saddened by these deaths.
‘My heartfelt condolences to their families. May they rest in peace.’
The crash is amongst Colombia’s deadliest aviation incidents. It comes after a Cessna 402C crashed near Urrao on January 8, killing ten people on board.
Got a story? Get in contact with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you may submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the newest news updates. You may now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Enroll for our day by day push alerts here.
MORE: EasyJet given stern warning over ‘misleading’ £5.99 cabin bag fee
MORE: Wizz Air could launch first-ever transatlantic flights from UK — what would that seem like?
MORE: Terrifying moment Easyjet plane sways while attempting to land at Newcastle Airport