Bogota, Tragedy struck as a small plane crashed in central Meta on Wednesday, claiming the lives of five members of Colombia’s Democratic Center party and the pilot.
The country’s civil aviation authority reported the plane crash. The victims were identified as Nohora Tovar, former senator, and ambassador, along with her husband Guillermo Perez, who served as the party’s coordinator in Meta. Also among the casualties were Dimas Barrero, a deputy representing Meta; Felipe Carreno, the gubernatorial candidate for the department; Oscar Rodriguez, a Villavicencio councilman; and the pilot, Heliodoro Alvarez.
The aircraft involved in the unfortunate incident was a Cessna T210N, which operated as an air shuttle. It departed from the airport in Villavicencio, Meta’s capital, at 7:40 a.m. (1240 GMT) and lost contact with air traffic control at 7:58 a.m. (1258 GMT), as per the agency’s statement. The civil aviation authority has already assigned a team of experts to investigate and collect evidence to determine the possible causes of the accident.
Alvaro Uribe, former president of Colombia and a founding member of the Democratic Center party, expressed his sorrow on Twitter over the tragic event and stated that he would closely monitor the progress of the investigation.