Colombian plane crashes near Venezuelan border, killing all 15 on board after going missing — here’s what happened

A twin-engine propeller plane with 15 people on board, including a Colombian legislator, crashed on Wednesday in a mountainous area close to the Venezuelan border, killing all passengers and crew, authorities in Bogotá said, as reported by AFP.

“I deeply regret these deaths,” leftist President Gustavo Petro wrote on X. “All my solidarity to their families.

Here's what happened

AFP reported that the plane took off from the Colombian border city of Cucuta and lost contact with air traffic control shortly before it was due to land in nearby Ocana around noon (1700GMT).

The flight was carrying 13 passengers and two crew members on a journey scheduled to last 23 minutes and was operated by Colombia’s state airline, Satena.

“There are no survivors,” an aviation authority official told AFP, adding that the cause of the crash was not immediately known.

The government deployed the Air Force to search the crash site in a remote and rugged section of the eastern Andes, an area marked by dense vegetation and unpredictable weather, AFP reported.

Parts of the surrounding region are controlled by Colombia’s largest guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army, known by its Spanish acronym ELN.

According to North Santander Governor William Villamizar, speaking to local news magazine Semana, seven bodies have been recovered so far. One Colombian lawmaker and a legislative candidate were among those on board.

Who was Representatice Diogenes Quintero?

AFP reported that those killed include Representative Diogenes Quintero, 36, a member of Colombia’s chamber of deputies, and Carlos Salcedo, a candidate in the upcoming elections. Quintero’s party described him as “a leader committed to his community.”

Quintero was born in Catatumbo, a conflict-ridden region marked by coca cultivation and rival armed groups.

The aircraft involved was a Beechcraft 1900 twin-propeller plane.

Colombia’s geography, with dense jungle and snow-capped mountain ranges, makes large parts of the country difficult to reach by land.

(With inputs from AFP)