A small plane crashed Wednesday in a rural area of ​​northeastern Colombia’s Norte de Santander department, killing all 15 people on board, including a local lawmaker, authorities said.

Satena, the state-owned airline that operated the flight, said local officials in the community of Curasica notified authorities of where the plane had crashed and a rescue team was deployed to “assess the condition of the passengers.”

Colombia’s Ministry of Transport later issued a statement saying that “after the aircraft was located at the scene, authorities have unfortunately confirmed that there are no survivors.”

The plane, registration HK4709, took off at 11:42 local time from the airport in Cúcuta, the department’s capital, for Ocaña, a municipality surrounded by mountains, on a flight that usually lasts about 40 minutes.

The plane’s last contact with air traffic control occurred minutes after takeoff, according to a statement released by Satena.

Officials did not specify the cause of the crash, but said there would be an investigation.

The small plane was carrying two crew members and 13 passengers, including lawmaker Diógenes Quintero, who represents victims of internal armed conflict in his region, the airline said. Members of Quinter’s team were also on the plane, as well as Carlos Salcedo, a candidate for the upcoming congressional elections in March.

“Today, life took two members of this team: Diógenes Quintero, a man who dedicated his life to serving the most needy, and Natalija Acosta, who always looked after the whole team and filled every space with happiness,” reads the press release of Quintero’s team. posted on social media.

Quintero was a well-known human rights defender in the troubled border area with Venezuela, where he was from and where the accident happened.

A lawyer by profession, he was elected in 2022 as one of 16 members of the lower house to represent more than 9 million victims of Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict. The seats were created as part of a landmark 2016 peace deal between the Colombian government and the country’s largest guerrilla group, known as the FARC.

His party, the U Party, expressed regret at his death and said he was “a leader committed to his region, with a firm vocation for service”.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said in a post on X that he was “deeply sorry for these deaths.”

“My full solidarity with their families and may they rest in peace,” he said in the post.

Colombian Vice President Francia Marquez said in a social media post that she regretted Quintero’s death and that she “sends her sincere condolences to the families who mourn this irreparable loss that has plunged the entire country into mourning.”