Lawmaker among 15 killed in Colombia plane crash

KABUL (Pajhwok): At least 15 people, including a member of Congress, have been killed after a small plane crashed in a rural area of Colombia, media reports said on Thursday.

The incident took place in the rural area of Norte de Santander province in northeast Colombia on Wednesday, the Associated Press quoted authorities as saying.

Satena, the state-owned airline that operated the flight, said local officials in the community of Curasica alerted authorities after the plane went down, and a rescue team was deployed to “assess the condition of the passengers.”

Colombia’s Transportation Ministry later released a statement saying that “once the aircraft was located on site, authorities regrettably confirmed that there were no survivors.”

The aircraft, registered HK4709, took off at 11:42 a.m. local time from the airport in Cúcuta, the department’s capital, bound for Ocaña, a mountainous municipality, on a flight that typically lasts about 40 minutes.

The aircraft’s final contact with air traffic control came just minutes after takeoff, according to Satena.

Officials did not provide a cause for the crash but said an investigation would be launched.

The small plane was carrying two crew members and 13 passengers, including Diógenes Quintero, 36, a member of the House of Representatives for Catatumbo, the airline said. Carlos Salcedo, a social leader running for Congress, was also among the victims.

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