At least 64 folks had been killed and scores extra injured after a Colombian military transport plane crashed on takeoff in south of the nation, in line with the area’s Governor Jhon Gabriel Molina.
The C-130 Hercules plane broke into items on influence and caught hearth after happening close to Puerto Leguízamo, a city within the Putumayo area that borders Peru.
Among the 114 passengers on the plane had been 112 members of Colombia’s Army and two cops, Molina stated, including that 11 crew members had been additionally onboard.
The explanation for the crash has not but been decided, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez stated. There is not any indication of an assault by felony teams, he added.
The plane was in airworthy situation and the crew was “duly qualified,” he stated.
A video geolocated by NCS reveals the military plane taking off from Caucaya Airport and flying over a rural space moments earlier than it went down. The footage signifies the crash occurred lower than two miles from the airport.
Images from the scene of the crash confirmed thick black smoke and flames rising from the wreckage.
Nicolas Ordoñez, an indigenous ranger concerned within the search and rescue operations in Leguízamo, advised NCS that a number of survivors had been taken to a neighborhood hospital.
Some of the injured troopers had been flown to the capital Bogotá for remedy.
Sánchez has despatched condolences to the households of these affected.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated the crash “should never have happened.” He lamented the dearth of modernization of the armed forces, which he attributed to “bureaucratic difficulties.”
Flight information reveals the plane was a C-130H Hercules, an older mannequin of the C-130 sequence that first entered service in March 1965, in line with producer Lockheed Martin. The plane had been donated to the Colombian Air Force by the US Air Force in September 2020.
C-130 cargo planes are extensively used and able to working in distant and antagonistic situations.
It’s the most recent lethal plane crash that Colombia has skilled in latest months.
In late January, an aircraft went down close to Cúcuta within the northeast simply 9 minutes after taking off. All these on board died, together with congressman Diógenes Quintero.
This story has been up to date.
NCS’s Stefano Pozzebon, Avery Schmitz and Ivonne Valdés contributed to this report.
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