BOGOTA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- A small plane crashed in central Meta department Wednesday, killing five members of Colombia's Democratic Center party along with the pilot, said the country's civil aviation authority.
The party identified the victims as former senator and ambassador Nohora Tovar and her husband, Guillermo Perez, the party's coordinator in Meta; Dimas Barrero, a deputy representing Meta; Felipe Carreno, the department's gubernatorial candidate; Oscar Rodriguez, a Villavicencio councilman; and the pilot, Heliodoro Alvarez.
The Cessna T210N, which served as an air shuttle, "took off from the airport in Villavicencio (Meta's capital) at 7:40 a.m. (1240 GMT) and last had contact with air traffic control at 7:58 a.m. (1258 GMT)," the agency said in a statement.
The authority said it "assigned a team of experts to gather evidence to determine the possible causes of the accident."
Alvaro Uribe, former president of Colombia and a founder of the party, expressed his grief on Twitter about the accident, adding he was following the progress of the investigation. ■
