All 15 passengers on board killed

A plane with 15 people on board, including a Colombian lawmaker, crashed on Wednesday in a mountainous region near the Venezuelan border, killing all passengers and crew on board.

There were two crew members and 13 passengers, including Columbian lawmaker, Diogenes Quintero, member of the House of Representatives for Catatumbo, the airline said. 

What we know about the Colombia plane crash

The plane, operated by state-owned airline Satena, took off from the Colombian border city of Cucuta and was en route to Ocana.

Colombia’s presidency said in a statement that contact with the aircraft was lost shortly after takeoff. 

A rescue team was sent to the crash site to “assess the condition of the passengers.”

However, 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.”

Officials could not determine the cause of the crash, but said there would be an investigation.

Who was Diogenes Quintero?

Quintero, 36, was a member of the House of Representatives for Catatumbo, Satena said.

He was a well-known human rights activist in the troubled border region with Venezuela and was described by his party as “a leader committed to his community.”

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

Edited by: Kieran Burke