Shortly after it was known fatal accident that a plane from the Colombian company Satena suffered this Wednesday afternoon, when it was trying to connect the cities of Cúcuta and Ocaña, the list of the names of the victims was officially revealed. Among the dead are a Colombian congressman, a candidate and a former councilman, as well as advisors, close friends and the two crew members. Meanwhile, Civil Aeronautics of Colombia began an investigation into the causes of the accident.
The Colombian Ministry of Transportation officially released the list of the fifteen deaths on flight NSE 8849 of Searca, a subsidiary of the Satena company, which this Wednesday covered the journey from Cúcuta to Ocaña, a city to which it never arrived. The Beechcraft 1900, the twin-engine and turboprop aircraft with capacity for 19 people, stopped transmitting information to the authorities a few minutes before its scheduled arrival at the Aguas Claras Airport in Ocaña.
The death of Diogenes Quintero Amayaa congressman and specialist in Administrative Law. He was born 36 years ago, in Agua Blanca, Catatumbo region, and was a lawyer, specialized in Administrative Law from the Free University of Cúcuta (Unilibre) and was currently pursuing a master’s degree in Development Management at the Externado University of Colombia.
Throughout his political career, he was municipal representative of Hacarí (where Agua Blanca is located) and regional defender of the people in Ocaña, the city where he was flying this Wednesday, from where he sought to carry out protection strategies for communities harmed by the presence of guerrillas and by the withdrawal of the state apparatus due to the above.
Strictly speaking, Quintero was, until this Wednesday, a member of the Chamber of Seats for Peacea group of 16 legislators who address the needs of victims of the regions in armed conflict. The seat for peace is a special position that emerged from the 2016 Peace Agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to ensure the parliamentary representation of the victims.
Together with him he traveled and Natalia Acosta Salcedo, his assistant, suffered the same fate.. From their work team they spread a message of condolences through social networks on Wednesday afternoon: «They left together, working for what they believed in, traveling through that land that they loved so much. There is no consolation right now, only the emptiness and the memory of their lives.»
The candidate for the same Chamber of Seats for Peace was also traveling on flight NSE 8849. Carlos Caicedo and the former councilor of Ocaña Juan Davíd Pacheco Mejía. The latter was on the plane accompanied by his wife, Maira Sánchez Created. The three, like Caicedo, suffered the same fate.
Same misfortune for the two crew members of the flight, Miguel Vanegaspilot, and Jose de la Vegaco-pilot.
«He had a license since 1996. He lasted a while without using it, but since March 2008 he has been working with the Searca company. He has not stopped working for 18 years,» Lucía Cabrera, the pilot’s wife, told the newspaper El Tiempo. Co-pilot De la Vega, for his part, had experience in Twin Otter, ATR-42 and Boeing 727 aircraft since 1995.
Las other victims identified They are Martía Torcoroma Álvarez Barbosa (trader by trade), Rolando Enrique Peñalosa Gualdrón (neurosurgeon), María del Carmen Díaz Rodríguez, Maira Alejandra Avendaño Rincón, Anayisel Quintero, Karen Liliana Parales Vera, Anirley Julio Osorio and Gineth Rincón.
The Minister of Transportation of Colombia expressed this Wednesday: «The country is in mourning. We accompany the families of the victims with deep respect and solidarity.» Civil Aeronautics announced that it would begin investigations this same day to find the reasons for the damage that led to the catastrophe.
The complete list of deaths in the Colombia accident
Diogenes Quintero Amaya
Maria Torcoroma Álvarez Barbosa
Carlos Salcedo
Rolando Enrique Peñalosa Gualdrón
Maria del Carmen Diaz Rodriguez
Maira Alejandra Avendaño Rincón
Anayisel Quintero
Karen Liliana Parales Vera
Anirley Julio Osorio
Gineth Rincon
Natalia Cristina Acosta Salcedo
Maira Alejandra Sánchez Created
Juan David Pacheco Mejía
Miguel Vanegas
Jose De la Vega
