Colombia Military Plane Crash Kills 66, with Four Others Missing

AP

People stand around a military cargo plane that crashed after taking off from Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia.

A Colombian military aircraft crashed during take-off on Monday, killing 66 people, as rescuers transported dozens of survivors to nearby hospitals and continued searching for four individuals still missing, according to a senior official.

The Lockheed Martin-built Lockheed C-130 Hercules was carrying 128 people, including 11 Air Force personnel, 115 army troops, and two national police officers, according to Hugo Alejandro Lopez, head of the country’s armed forces.

The death toll was nearly double the earlier figure provided by authorities, who continued search and recovery operations at the site of the crash.

The accident occurred as the aircraft was taking off from Puerto Leguízamo, near the border with Peru, Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X.

The aircraft is believed to have struck an object near the end of the runway during take-off, firefighter Eduardo San Juan Callejas told Caracol Radio, adding that one of its wings subsequently clipped a tree as it descended.

The crash caused the aircraft to catch fire and triggered explosions from equipment on board, he added.

Residents of the remote area were the first to rescue survivors, with footage showing individuals transporting injured soldiers on the back of motorcycles along a dirt road.

Military vehicles later arrived, although authorities said the crash site was difficult to access, hampering rescue efforts.

Lopez said 57 survivors had been hospitalised, 30 of whom were in a stable condition at a military clinic.

President Gustavo Petro, in the final phase of his administration, criticised bureaucratic obstacles for delaying plans to modernise the military.

“I will tolerate no further delays; the lives of our young people are at stake,” he said in a post on X. “If civilian or military administrative officials are not equal to this challenge, they must be replaced.”

Several candidates in Colombia’s upcoming 31 May presidential election offered condolences and called for a full investigation.

The Hercules C-130 aircraft was first introduced in the 1950s, and Colombia acquired its initial models in the late 1960s. In recent years, some older aircraft have been upgraded or replaced with newer models supplied by the United States under provisions allowing the transfer of surplus military equipment.

C-130 aircraft are frequently used in Colombia to transport troops as part of military operations linked to a six-decade-long internal conflict that has claimed more than 450,000 lives.

The tail number of the aircraft that crashed on Monday corresponds to one of three planes delivered to Colombia by the United States in recent years.

In late February, another Hercules C-130 belonging to the Bolivian Air Force crashed in the city of El Alto, narrowly missing a residential area.

More than 20 people were killed and around 30 injured in that incident. Banknotes from the aircraft’s cargo were scattered across the crash site, prompting clashes between residents and security forces.

Source: Reuters



PUKMEDIA