Ione Wells,South America CorrespondentAnd
Vanessa Buschschlüter,Latin America Editor, News Online
A Colombian air force plane crashed shortly after takeoff in the south of the country, killing at least 66 people and injuring dozens, officials said.
Air Force Commander Carlos Fernando Silva Rueda said 114 military personnel were on board, along with 11 crew members.
The plane, a US-made Hercules C-130 used for troop transport, crashed near the town of Puerto Leguízamo, in Putumayo province.
Rescuers sent to the scene were seen searching the rubble for survivors. The cause of the accident was under investigation.
Daniel Ortiz/AFP via Getty Image
Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said the Hercules C-130 transport plane, built by Lockheed Martin, suffered “a tragic accident while taking off from Puerto Leguízamo, carrying troops of our security forces.”
He called the incident near the border with Peru “deeply sad for the country.”
Ammunition carried on board exploded following a fire on the plane, Sánchez later said.
A military source told AFP that 58 soldiers had died, as well as six air force soldiers and two police officers.
Two military sources also told Reuters that 66 people had died.
It was one of the deadliest accidents in the recent history of the Colombian Air Force.
Images shared by local media showed a plume of smoke rising from the site and trucks carrying soldiers heading towards the area.
Footage on local news sites also appears to show residents transporting what appear to be injured soldiers from the crash site to hospitals on the back of small motorcycles.
President Gustavo Petro wrote on X that “this horrible accident… should not have happened.”
In his long tenure, he also blamed “bureaucratic problems” for the delay in his plans to modernize the armed forces’ equipment and aircraft.
“I will not allow any further delay, the lives of our young people are at stake,” he wrote, without specifying the cause of the accident.
