A Colombian Air Force transport plane carrying 125 people crashed shortly after take-off in the country’s southern Amazon region on Monday.
The Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130, which was transporting troops, went down near Puerto Leguizamo, close to the Peruvian border.
Conflicting reports have emerged regarding the number of survivors.
While military sources told Reuters that 71 people had been rescued from the wreckage, Colombian Air Force Commander Fernando Silva stated in a video message that 48 individuals had been saved.
Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez confirmed the accident on X, adding that the “exact number of victims and the causes of the crash have not yet been determined.”
Footage published by local outlet BluRadio showed thick plumes of smoke rising from the crash site, located just 3 km (2 miles) from an urban centre.
One video depicted the aircraft heading towards the ground moments after departing. Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the crash.
US defense company Lockheed Martin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“I hope there are no fatalities in this horrific accident that should never have happened,” President Gustavo Petro said in a post on X, in which he criticised bureaucratic obstacles for delaying his plans to modernise the military.
“I will grant no further delays; it is the lives of our young people that are at stake,” he said. “If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to this challenge, they must be removed.”
Hercules C-130 planes were first launched in the 1950s and Colombia acquired its first models in the late 1960s. It has more recently modernized some older C-130s with newer models sent from the U.S. under a law that allows for the transfer of used or surplus military equipment.
Additional details of the plane involved in the accident were not immediately available.
Several candidates in Colombia’s upcoming May 31 presidential election expressed condolences to the families of the injured soldiers on social media and called for an investigation.
Colombia’s Commander General of the Armed Forces Hugo Lopez vowed to respond with “the utmost responsibility, humanity and transparency”.
At the end of February, another Hercules C-130 belonging to the Bolivian Air Force crashed in the populous city of El Alto, barely missing a residential block.
More than 20 people died in that incident and another 30 were injured, and banknotes from the plane’s cargo scattered around the city, prompting clashes between residents and security forces.
