At least eight people have died and dozens more injured after a Colombian military transport plane crashed in the south of the country, officials said Monday.
A Colombian Air Force C-130H Hercules transport plane crashed near the town of Puerto Leguizamo in the Putumayo region, according to reports Monday. The incident has prompted a large-scale rescue operation and raised concerns about military transport safety in the remote Amazon region.
Jhon Gabriel Molina Acosta, the Governor of Putumayo, told El Tiempo that as of Monday, eight people were confirmed dead, 73 were injured, and 15 of those injured are in critical condition.
125 PEOPLE ON BOARD
Governor Molina Acosta stated that a total of 125 people were on board the aircraft, including 112 soldiers, two police officers, and 11 crew members.
“We knew there were more than 100 people on the plane,” Molina Acosta said. “After hours of rescue work since this morning, we have confirmed eight fatalities, 73 injuries, and 15 people in critical condition. We don’t yet grasp the cause of the crash, all we know is that it went down a few minutes after takeoff.”
THREE KILOMETERS FROM IMPACT
The Colombian Air Force C-130H Hercules, registration FAC-10016, crashed on Monday near Puerto Leguizamo in the Putumayo region. The crash occurred shortly after takeoff, approximately three kilometers from a residential area.
Images circulating on social media show black smoke and flames rising from the crash site.
