At least 34 people were killed on Monday when a Colombian air force plane carrying 125 people crashed just after take-off, the governor of Colombia’s Putumayo department said.
The incident occurred as the Lockheed Martin-built Hercules C-130 was taking off from Puerto Leguizamo on the border with Peru as it transported troops, defence minister Pedro Sánchez said on X.
The plane hit the ground just 1.5km away from where it took off, and ammunition being carried on board detonated as a result of fire on the aircraft, he later said.
There was no indication of an “attack by illegal actors”, and the plane was airworthy with a qualified crew before departure, Sanchez added.
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Footage from the scene published by local outlet BluRadio showed thick plumes of smoke rising from the wreckage. One video showed the plane heading towards the ground just seconds after take-off.
Two military sources earlier told Reuters that 71 people had been rescued from the wreckage.
Colombian air force commander Fernando Silva said in a video posted on social media that the plane was carrying 114 passengers and 11 crew members, and that authorities were still investigating the cause of the incident.
Several candidates in Colombia’s upcoming May 31st presidential election offered condolences and called for an investigation.
A spokesperson for Lockheed Martin said the company extended condolences to those affected by the crash and that it was committed to helping Colombia as it investigates the incident.
Hercules C-130 planes were first launched in the 1950s and Colombia acquired its first models in the late 1960s.
The tail number of the plane that crashed on Monday matches that of the first of three US air force planes delivered by the US in recent years, which arrived in late 2020.
At the end of February, another Hercules C-130 belonging to the Bolivian air force crashed in the populous city of El Alto, barely missing a residential block.
More than 20 people died in that incident and another 30 were injured, and banknotes from the plane’s cargo of 18 metric tons of central bank bills scattered around the crash site, prompting clashes between residents and security forces. – Reuters
