BOGOTA. – The accident of a Hercules C-130 aircraft of the Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC) that occurred on Monday in the Amazonian town of Puerto Leguízamo, left 69 dead and 57 injured, according to the balance sheet made this Tuesday by the Military Forces Command when the search and rescue tasks were concluded.
“Once the information was consolidated and verified, it was established that 126 people were on the aircraft: 11 crew members from the Colombian Aerospace Force, 113 soldiers from the National Army and two members of the National Police, of whom 57 were injured and, unfortunately, 69 died as a result of this tragic accident,” the information stated.
Of the 69 deceased, 61 were Army soldiers, six belonged to the FAC and two to the National Police.
The images captured the remains of the plane wrapped in flames and smoke, in the middle of the vegetation. Farmers in the area said they heard a “roar.”
“I felt an explosion in the air and, when I looked, the plane was coming close to the house on my plot,” said farmer Noé Mota.
The Hercules aircraft, made in the United States, crashed to the ground at 10:00 a.m. local time (15HGMT) in Puerto Leguízamo, near the border with Peru and Ecuador, for reasons that are still unknown.
Rebel groups operate in that area and there are a high number of hectares with drug crops.
“The airport (Puerto Leguízamo) is small and there are great difficulties” in evacuating the victims, said Jhon Gabriel Molina, governor of Putumayo, in a video shared on Facebook.
For his part, the president of Colombia, the leftist Gustavo Petro, also shared images that show how the aircraft tries to gain altitude before collapsing.
Petro said in
The armies of Colombia and Ecuador are fighting the powerful cartels that operate in the border area, where strong military activity and bombings have been reported in recent weeks.
No signs of attack
The Minister of Defense, Pedro Sánchez, expressed in X his “deep regret” after the incident. The causes have not yet been confirmed but, according to Sánchez, “there are no indications of an attack by illegal actors.”
“As a consequence of the aircraft fire, part of the ammunition transported by the troops detonated,” which “corresponds to what is heard in some videos circulating on social networks,” he explained.
This is the second crash of a C-130 Hercules aircraft in South America in less than a month.
A Bolivian military cargo plane carrying bank notes crashed upon landing near La Paz on February 27, leaving at least 24 people dead.
The Hercules is a four-engine turboprop aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
Known for its ability to operate from improvised landing strips, it is widely used by armies around the world and can transport everything from troops to vehicles.
The governments of Ecuador, mired in a trade war with Colombia, and Venezuela regretted the accident and offered condolences to the families of the victims.
The incident occurs in a region where the Armed Forces maintain security operations due to the presence of illegal armed groups and drug trafficking networkswhich makes Putumayo a key area for military deployment in the south of the country. While work at the accident site progresses, the Colombian government asked to avoid speculation until confirmed official information is available.
