Colombia launches search for missing plane carrying 15 people

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.