Hércules C-130 aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff in the southwest of the country, with 125 occupants on board; cause of the accident is still unknown
The crash of a military plane with 125 occupants left 66 dead and dozens injured this Monday (23) in southwestern Colombia, a military source told AFP. According to the source, the dead included 58 soldiers, six members of the air force and two police officers.
The American-made C-130 Hercules crashed shortly after takeoffat 10am local time, in Puerto Leguízamonear the border with Peru and Ecuador, for an unknown reason. Rebel groups operate in the region, where there are narcotics crops. Rescue teams were working at the scene.
AFP recorded images of the plane wreckage engulfed in flames and smoke amid vegetation. Peasants in the region said they heard a “bang”.
“The airport (in Puerto Leguízamo) is small and there are great difficulties” in evacuating the victims, said Jhon Gabriel Molina, governor of Putumayo, in a video shared on Facebook.
“We are doing everything possible to remove the injured soldiers. We treated 81 wounded,” the government secretary of Puerto Leguízamo, Carlos Claros, told RCN earlier.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro shared a video on X in which the aircraft appears to try to gain altitude before crashing.
Petro added that it was “a horrible accident” and referred to the need to modernize the military fleet, without specifically saying whether this was related to the causes of the accident.
The armies of Colombia and Ecuador are fighting the powerful drug cartels operating in the border area, where intense military activities and bombings have been recorded in recent weeks.
No signs of attack
The Colombian Minister of Defense, Pedro Sánchez, expressed in X his regret after the disaster, and reported that “there is no evidence of an attack by illegal actors. As a result of the fire on the aircraft, part of the ammunition carried by the troops was detonated.”
This was the second accident involving a C-130 Hercules plane in South America in less than a month. A Bolivian military cargo plane carrying bank notes crashed while landing near La Paz on February 27, leaving at least 24 people dead.
The Hercules is a four-engine turboprop aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin. Known for its ability to operate from improvised landing stripsit is widely used by armies around the world and can transport everything from troops to vehicles.
The governments of Ecuador, immersed in a trade war with Colombia, and Venezuela, lamented the accident and offered condolences to the victims’ families.
*AFP
