A commercial plane carrying 15 people, including two politicians, crashed in a restive region along Colombia’s border with Venezuela on Wednesday, according to SATENA, the airline operating the flight. There were no survivors, an official said.
The plane, a Beechcraft 1900 turboprop, was traveling between the cities of Cúcuta and Ocaña. Ocaña is in the Catatumbo region, a mountainous zone where the Colombian government has been ratcheting up a conflict with the country’s most powerful armed group, the National Liberation Army, or the ELN.
An airline statement said the aircraft last made contact with air-traffic control at 11:54 a.m. local time, approximately 11 minutes before its scheduled landing in Ocaña. William Villamizar, the governor of the department of Norte de Santander, where the plane crashed, told a local news channel that no one survived the crash.
The plane was carrying 13 passengers and two crew members. The list of passengers released by SATENA included two local politicians, Diógenes Quintero and Carlos Salcedo, who were running for congressional office in upcoming national elections. Mr. Quintero’s campaign team also posted news of his death on social media.
SATENA, Colombia’s state-owned airline, is generally considered safe, and the last crash that resulted in fatalities was more than 35 years ago. Many of the airline’s pilots are former member of the military. Its fleet of propeller planes connects remote regions of Colombia to urban centers.
Simón Posada contributed reporting.
Max Bearak is a reporter for The Times based in Bogotá, Colombia.
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