At least 15 people were killed when a Bolivian military C-130 Hercules cargo plane carrying banknotes crashed while landing near La Paz, prompting police to use tear gas to push back crowds grabbing scattered cash and leading authorities to burn the money at the scene.
The aircraft veered off the runway at El Alto International Airport and careened onto a nearby avenue, smashing into cars and damaging trucks, according to local media footage. Twisted metal and torn fuselage parts littered the roadway as bystanders rushed toward fluttering bills before officers moved in.
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Colonel Pavel Tovar of the National Fire Department told reporters that “between 15 and 16 deceased people have been counted” in the disaster. Bolivia’s Health Ministry reported at least 28 injured. Fatalities were recorded both at the airport and on the busy avenue struck by the aircraft and debris.
The crash forced El Alto, Bolivia’s second-most important airport, to suspend operations. The Bolivian Air Navigation and Airports authority, NAABOL, said the C-130 had departed from the eastern city of Santa Cruz and went down while landing at the high-altitude airfield that serves the administrative capital.
Witnesses described severe weather as the plane approached. “A heavy hailstorm was falling and there was lightning when the plane went down,” said Cristina Choque, a 60-year-old vendor whose car was struck by wreckage. “The tire is what fell on top of us. My daughter is injured, she has a head wound.”
Authorities said the Lockheed Martin-manufactured transport was carrying Bolivian banknotes, which spread across the crash site. Police fired tear gas to disperse people trying to collect the money. Later, officials ignited a bonfire at the scene to destroy the cash.
The Defense Ministry said in a statement the money aboard the aircraft “has no official serial number, therefore it has no legal or purchasing power,” and warned that “its collection, possession, or use constitutes a crime.” Prosecutors said 12 people were detained for questioning as reports of looting of nearby businesses surfaced amid the chaos.
Emergency teams worked through the wreckage to recover victims and aid the injured. Hospitals in El Alto launched a blood donation campaign to support the surge of patients. Images from the avenue showed multiple vehicles crumpled or overturned and the aircraft’s mangled parts strewn across lanes regularly crowded with traffic.
The Defense Ministry said it would open an investigation into the cause of the crash. Officials did not immediately provide details on the crew or the precise sequence of events leading to the aircraft’s runway excursion and impact on the road.
El Alto International Airport sits at more than 13,300 feet (4,050 meters) above sea level and serves La Paz, which lies at roughly 11,975 feet (3,650 meters) and is ringed by Andean peaks. The thin air and rapidly changing mountain weather can pose challenges to aviation, though authorities have not drawn any link between conditions and Tuesday’s crash.
The death toll could shift as recovery operations continue. By late evening, security remained tight around the crash zone, scorched by the bonfire and marked by a heavy police presence as investigators and cleanup crews worked to clear debris from one of the region’s busiest corridors.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
