In brief
Colombia's state-owned airline Satena has reported that a Beechcraft 1900 passenger plane with 15 people on board is missing. The flight lost contact shortly before its scheduled landing in Ocaña, near the Venezuelan border. Search operations have commenced in the mountainous region where the aircraft is believed to have disappeared, and a hotline has been set up for relatives of the passengers. Reports indicate that a Colombian lawmaker may have been on the flight.
A passenger plane with 15 people on board has gone missing in northern Colombia, state-owned airline Satena has said.
Contact with the aircraft, a Beechcraft 1900, was lost just minutes before it was scheduled to land in the city of Ocaña, near the Venezuelan border, at 12:05 local time (17:05 GMT) on Wednesday.
A search operation in the mountainous area is now under way. A hotline has also been set up for the relatives of those who were on the plane.
Local media is reporting that a Colombian lawmaker may have been on board.
In a statement, Satena said Flight NSE 8849 with 13 passengers and two crew members took off from the city of Cúcuta, about 100km (62 miles) north-east from Ocaña.
The contact with the aircraft was lost at 11:54 local time, the company added.
Colombia's armed forces are taking part in the search for the aircraft, which is in a region that has areas controlled by Colombia's ELN guerrilla group.
