Horror airplane crash kills singer and 5 others as jet bursts into flames on solution to live performance
A top music star is among six people killed after the plane carrying him and his musicians crashed and burst into flames as they headed for a concert due to take place last night.
Colombian pop star Yeison Jimenez, 34, had written in a last Instagram post before boarding: “Always humble, because what God gives you he can also take away.”
The twin-engine Piper Navajo he owned came down shortly after take-off from Paipa Airport in Colombia’s Tundama Province after failing to gain height. Onlookers could be overheard screaming: “It’s running out of airstrip” as it reached the end of the runway.
The victims were the pilot, the co-pilot and four passengers including Jimenez, who has performed in countries around the world.
(Image: Solarpix)
His photographer Weisman Mora, who published a poignant last video of them on the plane as it taxied down the runway, has also been named as one of the victims.
They were heading towards the city of Medellin near to the town of Marinilla where Yeison was due to perform.
The fatal crash happened just after 4pm local time on Saturday afternoon, two hours after Yeison and three members of his team were pictured buying cheese in a shop near to the airport where the singer posed for selfies with staff.
(Image: Solarpix)
Colombia’s Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement: “Unfortunately, following the arrival of emergency services and the National Police at the crash site, the deaths of all six occupants of the aircraft have been confirmed. Among the victims is the renowned popular music artist Yeison Jimenez.”
Jimenez, a singer-songwriter who started performing at the age of seven, revealed in a podcast interview before the tragedy that claimed his life he had a recurring dream he was going to die in an air accident.
He said: “I start dreaming about a very delicate subject, which is that we were going to have an accident. I see it three times in my **** accident. I’ve never said this before, nobody knows. Three times, two dreams in Spain.
“The man shows me everything I had to do. Everything I had to do. I have a plane. I dreamt twice in Spain, on tour in Spain, that I arrive in Olaya, in Medellín, and the captain says to me, ‘Yer, we’re ready’.”
The plane the singer died on belonged to his firm YJ Company SAS. He revealed to fans he had bought it in August 2022 as his popularity and wealth boomed.
(Image: Solarpix)
Yeison’s stepdaughter Camila Jimenez, who he adopted as his own after meeting partner and mum of his other two children Sonia Restrepo, reacted to the tragedy overnight by posting on her Instagram: “I love you dad.
“You don’t know how much it hurts me to see your videos and for you not to be here.”
Fans were paying tributes on social media today.
One wrote: “God have you in his glory. Rest in peace. You were a great man, a brilliant artist and a loving father. I still can’t believe what’s happened.”
Naming all six victims, the regional government of Boyaca, which the tourist town of Paipa forms part of, said: “We regret the tragic accident that claimed the life of the well-known singer Yeison Jimenez, one of the most representative figures of Colombian popular music.
(Image: @yeison_jimenez/Instagram)
“We also regret the deaths of the other victims of the accident, members of his team and crew. They were Captain Hernando Torres, Juan Manuel Rodriguez, Oscar Marin, Jefferson Osorio and Weisman Mora.
“United in prayer we stand in solidarity. May God give the families, loved ones and fans faith, strength and hope at these difficult moments.”
Yeison Jimenez, full name Yeison Orlando Jimenez Galeano, was one of the most well-known artists of so-called musica popular, the term often used to refer to a folk music genre which originated in the north-west part of Colombia in the 1930s and 1940s.
He was one of the artists credited with revitalising the genre, publishing eight albums and writing 70 songs in his lifetime.
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