Military plane crash in Colombia leaves 77 hospitalized, one dead
Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez said the plane went down as it lifted off from Puerto Leguízamo, a town deep in Colombia’s southern Amazon near the Peruvian border, where it had been transporting military personnel.
A Colombian Air Force Lockheed Martin C-130 military transport carrying 125 people crashed shortly after takeoff in the southern Amazon, leaving one person dead and 77 others in hospital, officials said.
President Gustavo Petro confirmed one fatality and said 77 people had been admitted to medical facilities following the accident.
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The defence ministry identified the aircraft as a Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130 that went down during departure procedures.
Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez said the plane went down as it lifted off from Puerto Leguízamo, a town deep in Colombia’s southern Amazon near the Peruvian border, where it had been transporting military personnel.
Colombian Air Force Commander Fernando Silva said in a video posted on social media that the manifest listed 114 passengers and 11 crew members, and that authorities are probing the cause of the crash.
Video shared by the service showed thick plumes of smoke billowing from the wreckage at the scene.
Flames and thick black smoke rise from the Air Force Hercules
A Lockheed Martin spokesperson extended condolences to those affected and said the company stands ready to assist Colombia’s investigation.
“I hope there are no fatalities in this horrific accident that should never have happened,” President Petro wrote on X, using the moment to criticise administrative delays that he says have held back plans to modernise the military.
“I will grant no further delays; it is the lives of our young people that are at stake,” he added. “If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to this challenge, they must be removed.”
The Hercules C-130 first entered service in the 1950s; Colombia acquired its initial examples in the late 1960s.
In recent years Colombia has upgraded some older C-130s with newer airframes transferred from the United States under legislation that permits the transfer of used or surplus military equipment.
Specific details about the aircraft involved in this crash have not been released.
In late February, a Bolivian Air Force Hercules C-130 crashed in El Alto, narrowly missing a residential block.
That accident killed more than 20 people and injured about 30 others; banknotes from the plane’s cargo scattered through the streets and sparked clashes between residents and security forces.