Individuals stand round a navy cargo airplane that crashed after taking off from Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia, a distant municipality within the Amazonian province of Putumayo, Monday, March 23, 2026.
MiPutumayo/through AP
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MiPutumayo/through AP
BOGOTA, Colombia — A navy transport airplane with 128 individuals on board, principally troopers, crashed shortly after taking off Monday in Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia, killing a minimum of 66 individuals and leaving dozens injured, the top of Colombia’s armed forces mentioned.
Common Hugo Alejandro López Barreto mentioned that 4 navy personnel have been nonetheless lacking.
“Sadly, as a consequence of this tragic accident, 66 of our military elements died,” he mentioned.
“At the moment, we have no information, or indications, that it was an attack by an illegal armed group,” Barreto added.
In a video posted on social media, Deputy Mayor Carlos Claros mentioned that the our bodies of the victims have been taken to the small city’s morgue, and that the one two clinics on the town handled the injured earlier than they have been flown to bigger cities. Puerto Leguizamo is positioned in Putumayo, an Amazonian province that borders Ecuador and Peru.
“I want to thank the people of Puerto Leguizamo who came out to help the victims of this accident,” Claros instructed Colombian tv station RCN.
Protection Minister Pedro Sánchez mentioned on X that the airplane that crashed Monday was transporting troops to a different metropolis in Putumayo.
Photographs shared on-line by Colombian media shops confirmed a black cloud of smoke rising from a subject the place the airplane crashed and a truck with troopers dashing to the positioning.
The airplane had 128 individuals on board, together with 115 have been from the Military, 11 crew members and a pair of from the Nationwide Police. Baretto mentioned 57 individuals have been evacuated.
Media shops shared movies of troopers being rushed from the positioning on bikes pushed by native residents, whereas one other group of residents tried to place out the fireplace that the airplane crash had created in a subject surrounded by dense foliage.
On this picture distributed by Colombia’s Armed Forces press workplace, individuals who have been injured on a navy cargo airplane that crashed shortly after take off are loaded on to a different navy airplane to evacuate them for therapy, from Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia, Monday, March 23, 2026.
Colombia’s Armed Forces press workplace/through AP
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Colombia’s Armed Forces press workplace/through AP
Carlos Fernando Silva, the commander of Colombia’s air pressure, mentioned particulars of the crash weren’t but identified, “except that the plane had a problem and went down about two kilometers from the airport.”
The air pressure commander added that two planes, with 74 beds, have been despatched to the realm to fly the injured again to hospitals within the capital, Bogota, and elsewhere.
Petro seized on the accident to advertise what he known as his longtime marketing campaign to modernize planes and different gear utilized by his nation’s navy, saying these efforts have been blocked by “bureaucratic difficulties” and suggesting that some officers needs to be held accountable.
“If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to the challenge, they must be removed,” Petro mentioned.
Critics of the president identified that navy plane have been given much less flight hours underneath the Petro administration on account of price range cuts, which results in much less skilled crews.
Erich Saumeth, a Colombian aviation skilled and navy analyst, mentioned that the Hercules C-130 that crashed Monday had been donated by america to Colombia in 2020. Three years later, it went by way of an in depth revision often known as an overhaul, during which its engines have been inspected and key parts have been changed.
“I don’t think this plane crashed because of a lack of good parts,” Saumeth mentioned. He mentioned that investigations must decide why the engines of the Hercules, which has 4 propellers, failed so rapidly after take off.
In a message on X Monday, Protection Minister Sánchez mentioned that thus far there have been no indicators indicating that the airplane was attacked by insurgent teams that function close to Puerto Leguizamo.
Sánchez wrote that the accident was “profoundly painful for the country,” including that: “We hope that our prayers can help to relieve some of the pain.”
