Fifteen people, including a congressman, are killed in a plane crash in Colombia near the Venezuelan border

A small plane crash in a rural area of ​​Colombia’s Norte de Santander province on Wednesday claimed the lives of all 15 people on board, including a congresswoman, authorities said.

State-owned airline Satena, which operated the flight, confirmed that local officials in the community of Curasica were the first to inform authorities of the crash site.

A rescue team was immediately dispatched to “assess the condition of the passengers”. However, Colombia’s Ministry of Transport later issued a statement confirming the tragic outcome: “Once the aircraft was located on site, authorities unfortunately confirmed that there were no survivors.”

The plane, registered as HK4709, had taken off from Cúcuta, the department’s capital, at 11:42 a.m. local time, bound for Ocaña, a municipality nestled among the mountains. The flight usually takes about 40 minutes.

According to a statement from Satena, the plane’s last contact with air traffic control came a few minutes after takeoff.

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

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

Quintero was a renowned human rights defender in the troubled border area with Venezuela, where he came from and where the accident occurred.

He is a lawyer by profession and was elected in 2022 as one of sixteen representatives in the House of Representatives who represent the more than nine million victims of the decades-long armed conflict in Colombia. The seats were created as part of a historic 2016 peace deal between the Colombian government and the country’s largest guerrilla group, known as the FARC.

His party, the U Party, expressed regret over his death, saying he was “a leader committed to his region, with a strong calling for service.”

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on social media: “I am deeply saddened by these deaths. My sincere condolences to their families. May they rest in peace.”