On Air Now

Mike Nicholson

10:00am - 2:00pm

  • 01723 336444

Now Playing

Adele

Chasing Pavements

Download

Colombia plane crash kills 15 including politician

A small passenger plane has crashed in northern Colombia, killing all 15 people on board, including a congressman.

Rescuers located the crash site and "regrettably confirmed that there were no survivors", Colombia's transportation ministry said.

Two crew members and 13 passengers - including Diogenes Quintero, 36, a member of the House of Representatives for Catatumbo, and Carlos Salcedo, who was running for Congress - died in the incident.

The aircraft, operated by state-owned airline Satena, took off on Wednesday at 11.42am local time from Cucuta bound for Ocana, a mountainous region, on a flight that typically lasts about 40 minutes.

The aircraft's final contact with air traffic control came minutes after take off, Satena said.

Satena did not say what caused the Beechcraft 1900 twin-engine turboprop ​plane to crash, adding the aircraft's emergency beacon had not been activated.

The cause of the crash - in the rural area of Norte de Santander near the Venezuelan border - is being investigated.

Mr Quintero was a renowned human rights activist in the troubled border region.

The lawyer was elected in 2022 as one of 16 representatives in the lower chamber to represent the more than nine million victims of Colombia's decades-long armed conflict.

His party, the U Party, paid tribute to him, describing him as "a leader committed to his region, with a firm vocation for service".

Read more from Sky News:
Doctors share disturbing accounts of Iran crackdown

ICE victim seen in earlier clash with agents in new video

? Tap here to follow The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim wherever you get your podcasts ?

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said in a post on social media: "I am deeply saddened by these deaths.

"My heartfelt condolences to their families. May they rest in peace."

Satena said officials in the community of Curasica alerted authorities about where the plane had gone down, and a rescue team was deployed to the site.

Sky News

(c) Sky News 2026: Colombia plane crash kills 15 including politician

Did you find this article useful?

This is the Coast is committed to providing a daily local news service for the Yorkshire Coast. We are a small locally owned and operated business which employs professional journalists and reporters. We do not receive any public funding or grants and we are entirely funded by our local commercial operations. We enjoy fabulous support from local businesses who work with us on their advertising and marketing campaigns, but the cost of providing high quality, well researched, fact checked local news coverage is significant.

If you appreciate what This is the Coast does, and would like to help support our journalism, please consider supporting us on a monthly basis today.

A small contribution from all our readers would really help support independent journalism for the Yorkshire Coast.

More from World News

Follow Us

Get Our Apps

Our Apps are now available for iOS, Android and Smart Speakers.

  • Available on the App Store
  • Available on Google Play
  • Just ask Amazon Alexa
  • Available on Roku

Today's Weather

  • Scarborough

    Light rain

    High: 5°C | Low: 3°C

  • Filey

    Light rain

    High: 5°C | Low: 3°C

  • Whitby

    Light rain

    High: 5°C | Low: 3°C

  • Bridlington

    Light rain

    High: 5°C | Low: 3°C

  • Hornsea

    Light rain

    High: 5°C | Low: 3°C

  • Driffield

    Light rain

    High: 5°C | Low: 3°C

News