Colombia military plane crash kills 66, four still missing
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Soldiers and rescuers near the Hercules C-130 emitting thick smoke after the aircraft crashed during take-off in Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia, on March 23.
PHOTO: AFP
BOGOTA – A Colombian military plane crashed on take-off on March 23, killing 66 people as rescuers shuttled dozens of survivors to nearby hospitals and searched for four who were still missing, according to a top official.
The Lockheed Martin-built Hercules C-130 transport plane was carrying 128 people – 11 air force members, 115 army personnel and two national police officers, according to Mr Hugo Alejandro Lopez, head of the nation’s armed forces.
The death toll was nearly double the previous figure given by the authorities, who continued search and recovery efforts at the site of the deadly crash.
The accident occurred as the plane was taking off from Puerto Leguizamo, on the border with Peru, Colombian Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez said on social media platform X.
The plane was believed to have suffered an impact near the end of the runway as it was taking off, firefighter Eduardo San Juan Callejas told local news outlet Caracol, with a wing of the plane later clipping a tree as it was plummeting.
The crash caused the plane to catch fire and detonate some sort of explosive devices on board, he added.
Residents of the remote area were the first to pull out survivors, with videos showing men speeding down a dirt road with wounded soldiers on the back of their motorcycles.
Military vehicles later arrived, though the authorities said the crash site was difficult to reach, impeding rescue efforts.
Mr Lopez said 57 of the survivors had been hospitalised, with 30 of them in non-serious condition at a military clinic.
Modernising the military
On March 23, Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in the twilight of his administration, criticised bureaucratic obstacles for delaying his plans to modernise the military.
“I will grant no further delays; it is the lives of our young people that are at stake,” he said in a post on X. “If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to this challenge, they must be removed.”
Several candidates in Colombia’s upcoming May 31 presidential election offered condolences and called for an investigation.
A spokesperson for defence company Lockheed Martin said the company 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. It has recently modernised its fleet with newer models sent from the US under a provision that allows for the transfer of used or surplus military equipment.
Hercules C-130s are frequently used in Colombia to transport troops as part of the military’s operations amid a six-decade-long internal conflict that has claimed more than 450,000 lives.
The tail number of the plane that crashed on March 23 matches that of the first of three planes delivered by the US to Colombia in recent years.
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 30 were injured, with banknotes from the plane’s cargo scattered around the city, prompting clashes between residents and security forces. REUTERS
