Dozens feared dead in military plane crash in southwestern Colombia
A military cargo plane crashed shortly after taking off in southwestern Colombia, the South American country's military said.
Dozens of people are feared dead after a Colombian military cargo plane crashed Monday in the southwestern part of the country, Colombian officials said. The crash happened shortly after the plane took off, according to Colombia's defense minister.
Soldiers were on board the plane when it crashed. It was carrying 114 passengers and 11 crew members, according to the latest numbers released by the Colombian Air Force, which reported that at least 48 people had been rescued from the crash site and suffered injuries.
Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said on X that the "tragic accident" occurred in Puerto Leguizamo, a remote municipality in the Amazonian province of Putumayo, which borders Peru and Ecuador.
Images shared online by local media outlets show a black cloud of smoke rising from a field where the plane crashed, and a truck with soldiers rushing to the site.
Sánchez did not specify the number of troops who were aboard the Hercules C-130, a plane that can be configured to carry up to 120 people. He said rescue teams had been sent to the site of the crash and that the cause of the crash still hasn't been determined.
"I hope there will be no deadly casualties in this accident that should have not occurred," Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote on X.