Investigators battle fog and rugged terrain to reach a Colombian plane crash site that killed 15, including a politician, amid ELN guerrilla territory.
CÚCUTA: Investigators are battling thick fog and rugged terrain to reach the site of a Colombian plane crash that killed all 15 people on board.
The twin-propeller aircraft, operated by state airline Satena, lost contact with air traffic control shortly before its scheduled landing on Thursday.
Images shared online show the wreckage of the fuselage surrounded by bushes and mud in a remote mountainous area.
The crash site lies in a densely covered tract of the Andes’ eastern range, an area with highly changeable weather and terrain difficult to traverse by land.
Swaths of the surrounding countryside in Norte de Santander department are controlled by Colombia’s largest guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN).
Colonel Alvaro Bello, head of accident investigation at Colombia’s Civil Aeronautics Authority, highlighted poor weather conditions at the impact site.
“We recorded persistently adverse weather conditions at the impact site,” Bello told a press conference.
Locals and farmers were the first to arrive at the scene in a rural village called Curasica, according to the transport ministry.
The flight had taken off from the border city of Cucuta and was due to land in nearby Ocana after a scheduled 23-minute journey.
Among the 13 passengers and two crew killed was Diogenes Quintero, a 36-year-old member of Colombia’s chamber of deputies.
The victims also included Carlos Salcedo, a candidate for upcoming elections, the authorities confirmed.
So far, seven bodies have been recovered, according to North Santander state governor William Villamizar.
The government deployed the Air Force to carry out a search of the area after the aircraft’s last known location was tracked at an altitude of 1,700 meters.
President Gustavo Petro expressed his solidarity with the families of the victims in a post on social media.
Quintero’s party described the lawmaker as “a leader committed to his community.”
Planes are a vital link for many Colombian towns located in terrain where land travel is exceptionally challenging.
