Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella announced Wednesday afternoon that rescue teams have recovered the bodies of all five people who were aboard a small aircraft that disappeared three days earlier while flying between the towns of Condoto, in the western department of Chocó, and Guaymaral, a small airport just north of Bogotá.
The single-engine Cessna T206, registered as HK-4985, went missing on September 13. According to authorities, the passengers had been staying in Condoto since the previous Thursday as part of a medical outreach mission, commonly known in Colombia as a “brigada de salud,” in which health workers travel to remote or hard-to-reach communities to provide care.
Colombia’s Air Force reported that it had located signs of the wreckage before the president’s confirmation that there were no survivors. The identity of the pilot, identified in earlier reporting as Mehmet Cankaya, has drawn additional attention to the case, though authorities have not yet released the cause of the crash or the identities of all the passengers.
Investigators are expected to examine the wreckage and flight data to determine what led to the accident along the mountainous route connecting the Pacific coast region with the capital. Chocó’s rugged terrain and unpredictable weather have historically posed challenges for small aircraft operating in the area.
For more details on the investigation and the victims, read the full story at El Tiempo.
Source: Presidente De La Espriella confirma que no hay sobrevivientes tras hallazgo de avioneta que había desaparecido (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: Memorialman.