A Colombian singer is among the six people who have been killed in a plane crash.
Yeison Jiménez and the five other people on board the private aircraft all died in the crash in central-eastern Colombia on Saturday, authorities have confirmed.
The Sun reported the 34-year-old had written a poignant social media post boarding boarding the flight, saying: “Always humble, because what God gives you he can also take away.”
The other victims have been identified as Jiménez, the pilot Captain Hernando Torres, and passengers Juan Manuel Rodríguez, Óscar Marín, Jefferson Osorio, and Weisman Mora.
Jiménez, whose full name is Yeison Orlando Jiménez Galeano, was one of the most famous ‘música popular’ artists in Columbia, producing eight albums in a 25 year career.
He has been credited with revitalising the genre, originally a form of folk music that began in the Paisa Region in northwestern Colombia between the 1930s and 1940s.
The singer was headed to a concert on Saturday night, but crashed just after take-off and became engulfed in flames, according to reports.
In videos circulating on local media, shouts of “the runway is run out” can be heard as the aircraft takes off, with images showing the later wreckage of the plane on fire.
The plane, registered as N325FA, crashed in the Paipa and Duitama area in the department of Boyacá while travelling to Medellín, the Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement.
Transportation Minister Fernanda Rojas said an investigation into the cause of the crash have begun. The Civil Aviation Authority added that the Technical Directorate for Accident Investigation has started collecting evidence.
The Boyacá governor’s office has declared a period of mourning.
More follows on this breaking story…
