Colombia Plane Crash: A Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130 military transport aircraft carrying about 110 soldiers crashed in southern Colombia shortly after takeoff on Monday. The aircraft went down near Puerto Leguízamo, a remote town in Colombia’s Amazon region close to the border with Peru, according to the reports. Video circulating on social media showed the aircraft engulfed in flames after the crash.
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Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said the plane was transporting troops from the armed forces when the incident occurred. “Military units are already at the scene of the incident; however, the exact number of victims and the causes of the crash have not yet been determined,” Sanchez said in a statement.
Local media outlet BluRadio, citing authorities, reported that the plane went down about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from an urban center.
The C-130 Hercules is a widely used military transport aircraft designed for troop movement, cargo transport and humanitarian missions.
The crash follows a separate incident in late February involving another C-130 aircraft operated by the Bolivian Air Force. That plane crashed in the city of El Alto, killing more than 20 people and injuring around 30 others.