Small plane crashes in rural area of northeast Colombia, killing all 15 people on board
Bogota (AP): A small plane crashed Wednesday in a rural area of Norte de Santander province in northeast Colombia, killing all 15 people on board, authorities said.
Satena, the state-owned airline that operated the flight, said local officials in the community of Curasica notified authorities about where the plane had gone down and a rescue team was deployed to “assess the condition of the passengers.”
Colombia's Transportation Ministry later released a statement saying that “once the aircraft was located on site, authorities regrettably confirmed that there were no survivors.”
The aircraft, which has a registration number of HK4709, took off at 11:42 am local time from the airport in Cucuta, the department's capital, bound for Ocana, a municipality surrounded by mountains, on a flight that typically lasts about 40 minutes.
The aircraft's final contact with air traffic control came minutes after takeoff, according to a statement released by Satena.
The small plane was carrying two crew members and 13 passengers, including Diogenes Quintero, who represents the victims of the internal armed conflict in his region, the airline said.
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FTA with EU is for ambitious India: PM Modi
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the free trade pact with the European Union is for an ambitious India and urged manufacturers to benefit from new markets opening for them.
Modi also said that the nation is coming out of long term pending problems and working towards long term solutions.
Time has come to find solutions and not create hurdles, he said, adding his government is not confined to just files but ensuring last mile delivery of welfare schemes to the people.
"Our priority is always human-centric while taking steps for all-round development of the country," he told reporters in Parliament House complex in his customary briefing at the beginning of the Budget session.
An India full of confidence has emerged as ray of hope for world, he added.
Modi said the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the EU is for an ambitious India and urged manufacturers to benefit from new markets opening for them.
"A new market has opened up. It offers quality products to 27 EU member nations," he said in an appeal to manufacturers.
India and the European Union on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the FTA, described as 'mother of all deals', under which 93 per cent of Indian shipments will enjoy duty-free access to the 27-nation bloc, while import of luxury cars and wines from the EU will become less expensive.
The deal, concluded after negotiations spanning about two decades, will create a market of about 2 billion people across the world's fourth-largest economy, India, and the second-largest economic bloc, the EU.
Referring to President Droupadi Murmu's address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, he said it was an expression of confidence of 140 crore citizens and outlined aspirations of the youth.
He also noted that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is going to table her ninth consecutive budget on Sunday and that she is the only woman finance minister in the country to achieve such a significant feat.
"This is a very glorious chapter of Indian democracy," he added.
