Colombian military plane with 125 on board crashes after takeoff

Air Force says plane was carrying 114 passengers and 11 crew ⁠members, and authorities are investigating the cause of the crash.

A Colombian military plane with 125 people on board has crashed after takeoff in the south of the country, the Colombian Air Force said.

Air Force Commander Carlos Fernando Silva said in a video posted on social media that the plane was carrying 114 passengers and 11 crew ⁠members, and that authorities were still investigating the cause of the crash.

Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez said the accident occurred when the Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130 plane took off from Puerto Leguizamo on the border with Peru while transporting troops.

“Military units are already at the scene. However, the number of victims and the causes of the crash have not yet been confirmed,” Sanchez posted on social media on Monday.

“It is a deeply painful event for the country. May our prayers bring some measure of comfort,” said Sanchez.

Colombian radio station Blu Radio reported that the crash took place 3km (2 miles) from an urban centre.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said in a post on X that he hoped that there were no fatalities in this “horrific accident that should never have happened”.

“I will grant no further delays; it is the lives of our young people that are at stake,” he said.

“If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to this challenge, they must be removed.”

Colombia acquired its first Hercules C-130 plane in the late 1960s and has more recently modernised some older C-130s with newer models sent from the United States.

Last month, another Hercules C-130 belonging to the Bolivian Air Force crashed in the city of El Alto, barely missing a residential building.

In the crash, more than 20 people were killed, and a further 30 were injured.