A devastating aviation accident has occurred in northern Colombia, resulting in the tragic loss of all fifteen individuals aboard a small passenger aircraft. The crash, which took place in the challenging mountainous terrain of Norte de Santander near the Venezuelan border, has claimed the lives of a prominent congressman and several other passengers.
No Survivors Found at Remote Crash Site
Rescue crews successfully located the wreckage in the rural, mountainous area, but officials from Colombia's transportation ministry delivered the heartbreaking confirmation that there were no survivors from the incident. The community of Curasica played a crucial role in alerting authorities to the approximate location where the aircraft went down, enabling the deployment of a specialised rescue team to the difficult-to-access site.
Victims Included Political Figures and Activists
Among the thirteen passengers and two crew members who perished were Diogenes Quintero, a 36-year-old member of the House of Representatives for Catatumbo, and Carlos Salcedo, who was actively campaigning for a congressional position. Mr Quintero was particularly renowned as a human rights activist in the troubled border region, having been elected in 2022 as one of sixteen representatives in the lower chamber specifically tasked with representing the more than nine million victims of Colombia's decades-long armed conflict.
His political party, the U Party, issued a moving tribute describing him as "a leader committed to his region, with a firm vocation for service." The loss has reverberated through Colombia's political landscape, with President Gustavo Petro expressing profound sadness on social media, offering heartfelt condolences to the families of all victims and wishing that they may rest in peace.
Flight Details and Investigation Underway
The ill-fated aircraft, a Beechcraft 1900 twin-engine turboprop operated by the state-owned airline Satena, had departed from Cucuta bound for Ocana at 11:42 AM local time on Wednesday. This mountainous route typically requires approximately forty minutes of flight time. According to Satena representatives, the aircraft's final communication with air traffic control occurred just minutes after takeoff.
Notably, the aircraft's emergency beacon failed to activate, complicating initial search efforts. Satena has not speculated about potential causes for the crash, confirming only that a thorough investigation into the incident is currently underway. Aviation authorities will be examining all available evidence to determine what led to this tragic event in Colombia's challenging northern terrain.
