At least 66 dead after Colombia military transport plane crashes

BOGOTA, Colombia: A Colombian military plane carrying 125 soldiers and crew members crashed on takeoff early Monday, killing at least 66 people and injuring dozens of others, officials said.

The C-130 Hercules aircraft went down shortly after departure from Puerto Leguizamo, near the southern border with Ecuador and Peru, strewing burning wreckage on the jungle floor.

A military source told AFP that 58 soldiers had died, along with six air force personnel and two police officers.

The updated toll came shortly after the local government secretary Carlos Claros told RCN television that 33 people had died, and that efforts were being made to treat and evacuate dozens of others injured.

He added that investigators were probing the cause of the crash.

The border area where the plane went down has been the scene of heavy military activity in recent weeks, as the Colombian and Ecuadoran militaries try to tackle drug-running cartels and militias.

AFP images from the scene showed civilians clambering around the broken tail of the aircraft, marked FAC 1016, as smoke and flames billowed above the trees.

Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his “deep sorrow” over the disaster, saying it was too early to determine the cause of the crash.

“It is a deeply painful event for the country. May our prayers bring some measure of comfort,” Sanchez said.

General Carlos Fernando Silva Rueda said that 114 troops were aboard and 11 crew members, travelling from Puerto Leguizamo to an Amazon outpost nearby.

“The airport is small and there are several difficulties” hindering the evacuation of bodies and the injured, Jhon Gabriel Molina, governor of the Putamayo region, said in a Facebook video.

‘Horrific accident’

Locals in the area recounted hearing a loud bang.

“I felt an explosion in the air and, when I looked up, the plane was flying close to the house on my plot,” said Noe Mota, a farmer.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro shared footage showing the aircraft attempting to gain altitude before plummeting down.

He described the crash on X as a “horrific accident” and emphasized a need to modernize Colombia’s military hardware, though he did not specifically link the crash to the plane’s condition.

The crash is the second by a C-130 Hercules, a four-engine turboprop built by Lockheed Martin, in South America in under a month.

A Bolivian military cargo plane carrying banknotes crashed while landing near La Paz on February 27, leaving at least 24 people dead.

Renowned for its ability to operate from makeshift airstrips, it is widely used by militaries around the world.