BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The head of Colombia’s armed forces said the death toll from a military plane crash has reached 66.
“Sadly, as a consequence of this tragic accident, 66 of our military elements died,” General Hugo Alejandro López Barreto said. He added that four military personnel were still missing.
The Hercules C-130 crashed shortly after taking off Monday in Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia, according to the town’s deputy mayor.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A military transport plane with 121 people on board, mostly soldiers, crashed shortly after taking off Monday in Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia, killing at least 33 people and leaving at least 81 injured, according to the town's deputy mayor.
In a video posted on social media, Deputy Mayor Carlos Claros said that the bodies of the victims were taken to the small town's morgue, and that the only two clinics in town treated the injured before they were flown to larger cities. Puerto Leguizamo is located in Putumayo, an Amazonian province that borders Ecuador and Peru.
“I want to thank the people of Puerto Leguizamo who came out to help the victims of this accident,” Claros told Colombian television station RCN.
Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said on X that the plane that crashed Monday was transporting troops to another city in Putumayo.
Images shared online by Colombian media outlets showed a black cloud of smoke rising from a field where the plane crashed and a truck with soldiers rushing to the site.
The air force said in a statement that at least 77 people were rescued from the crash site with injuries. A spokesman from the Defense Ministry said that officials are still investigating the final number of fatalities.
Source: WPLG
