A Colombian military transport plane crashed on takeoff in the country’s south on Monday, killing at least 69 people and injuring 57 others, the country’s military said.
The C-130 Hercules plane shattered on impact and caught fire after it crashed near Puerto Leguizamo, a town in the Putumayo region bordering Peru.
According to military sources, of the 126 people on board, 113 were military personnel, two were police officers and 11 were crew members.
Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said the cause of the crash had not yet been determined. It added that there was no sign of an attack by a criminal group.
It said the plane was in flight-worthy condition and the crew was “fairly qualified.”
Video geolocated by CNN shows the military plane taking off from Caucaya Airport and flying over the countryside just before crashing. Footage shows the crash occurred within three miles of the airport.
Video from the crash scene showed thick black smoke and flames rising from the wreckage.
Nicolás Ordonez, an indigenous ranger involved in search and rescue operations in Leguizamo, told CNN that several survivors were taken to a local hospital.
Some of the injured soldiers were taken to the capital Bogota for treatment.
Mr Sanchez expressed his condolences to the victims’ families.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the crash “never should have happened.” He lamented the lack of progress in modernizing the military, blaming it on “bureaucratic difficulties.”
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin said flight data showed the plane was a C-130H Hercules, an older model of the C-130 series that first entered service in March 1965. The plane was donated by the U.S. Air Force to the Colombian Air Force in September 2020.
C-130 cargo aircraft are widely used and can operate in remote areas and adverse conditions.
This is the deadliest plane crash Colombia has experienced in recent months.
In late January, a plane crashed just nine minutes after takeoff near Cucuta in the northeast. All on board were killed, including Congressman Diogenes Quintero.
This story has been updated.
