The air tragedy that occurred this Monday in southern Colombia has now left 66 confirmed deaths, in one of the worst recent accidents in the country’s military aviation.
The incident involved a Hercules C-130 aircraft of the Air Force carrying more than a hundred military personnel, which crashed to the ground just minutes after taking off from Puerto Leguízamo, in the department of Putumayo.
The figures, which increased throughout the day as rescue operations progressed, reflect the magnitude of the impact. Although initial reports spoke of dozens of victims, as the hours passed, authorities confirmed a much more serious toll, with dozens dead and dozens injured, several of them in critical condition.
Colombia confirms 66 deaths in military plane crash
The latest toll puts the number of military personnel killed at 66 following the Hercules aircraft accident, which had 125 people on board, including passengers and crew.
The aircraft, a Lockheed C-130H, crashed in a jungle area just a few kilometers from the airport it had departed from, and was virtually destroyed after the impact and subsequent fire.
Rescue teams worked for hours under complex conditions to recover the victims and evacuate the injured. At least several dozen people survived with injuries of varying severity and were transferred to medical centers, some of them in other cities due to the area’s limited hospital capacity.
The emergency also mobilized military units, evacuation aircraft, and relief agencies, in an operation that highlighted both the scale of the disaster and the logistical difficulties inherent to a jungle region that is hard to access.
The accident occurred just minutes after takeoff, during the aircraft’s initial climb phase. According to preliminary reports, the aircraft lost altitude and crashed near Puerto Leguizamo, triggering an explosion and a fire that consumed much of the structure.
Authorities have, for now, ruled out the hypothesis of an external attack, in a region where illegal armed groups operate. Instead, initial lines of investigation point to a possible technical or mechanical failure, although there are still no definitive conclusions.
The crashed aircraft was part of the military transport fleet used to move troops across different regions of the country. This type of aircraft, widely used around the world, is key for logistical operations in remote areas such as the Colombian Amazon. (Colombia One)