Colombian Military Plane Carrying 110 Soldiers Crashes; 66 Soldiers Dead…

New Delhi: A military aircraft carrying 110 soldiers crashed shortly after taking off in Colombia’s remote southern Amazon region. According to the Colombian Ministry of Defense, the incident involved a Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130 aircraft. As per the latest updates received on Tuesday, the death toll from the crash has risen to 66.

It is reported that the aircraft crashed on Monday near the town of Puerto Leguízamo—located close to the Peruvian border—while transporting the soldiers.

According to the local media outlet BluRadio, there were 110 soldiers on board the aircraft at the time of the accident. The crash occurred just 3 kilometers away from an urban area. According to Reuters, more than 50 people were pulled out alive from the wreckage of the Hercules C-130 aircraft. Videos shared by local media show plumes of black smoke rising from the crash site.

Colombian President Expresses Concern Over the Incident
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has expressed deep concern regarding this military aircraft crash. Writing on the social media platform X, he stated, “I hope that there have been no casualties in this horrific accident, which should never have happened.”

Petro has linked this accident to the long-standing delays in the modernization of Colombia’s military fleet. Gustavo Petro asserted, “I will not tolerate any further delays; the lives of our youth are at stake. If civilian or military administrative officials are incapable of meeting this challenge, they must be removed from their posts.” The Hercules C-130, first introduced in the 1950s, has been a vital component of military transport fleets worldwide—including that of Colombia since the late 1960s. Although some aircraft have undergone periodic upgrades, concerns regarding aging equipment persist.