Colombian lawmaker among 15 killed in twin-propeller plane crash near Venezuelan border

A twin-propeller aircraft carrying 15 people, including a Colombian lawmaker, crashed Wednesday in a mountainous region near the Venezuelan border, killing all passengers and crew, according to authorities in Bogota.

The plane took off from the Colombian border city of Cucuta and lost contact with air traffic control shortly before it was due to land in nearby Ocana around noon (1700GMT).

There were 13 passengers and two crew members aboard the flight, which was scheduled to take 23 minutes and was operated by Colombian state airline Satena.

"There are no survivors," an official from the aviation authority told AFP. The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

The government deployed the Air Force to carry out a search of the area -- a rugged, densely covered tract of the Andes' eastern range with highly changeable weather.

Swaths of the surrounding countryside are controlled by Colombia's largest guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army, better known by its Spanish acronym ELN.

So far, seven bodies have been recovered, according to North Santander state governor William Villamizar, speaking to local news magazine Semana.

One Colombian lawmaker and a legislative candidate were aboard. "I deeply regret these deaths," leftist President Gustavo Petro wrote on X. "All my solidarity to their families."

Among the list of dead was Representative Diogenes Quintero, 36, a member of Colombia's chamber of deputies, and Carlos Salcedo, a candidate for the upcoming elections.

Quintero's party described him as "a leader committed to his community."

He was born in Catatumbo, a conflict‑ridden region with coca crops and competing armed groups.

The aircraft was a Beechcraft 1900 twin-propeller plane.

With thick jungle and snow-capped mountain ranges, much of Colombia is difficult to traverse by land.

Planes link many towns that in less rugged countries would be connected by train or highway.