At least 34 people were killed when a Colombian Air Force transport plane crashed moments after takeoff in the country’s southern Amazon region, authorities confirmed.

The Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130 was carrying 125 people — 114 soldiers and 11 air force crew — when it went down approximately 1.5 kilometers from the runway at Puerto Leguízamo, a remote municipality in Putumayo province near the borders with Peru and Ecuador. The aircraft was transporting troops to another city in the province when it encountered what the air force described only as “a problem” shortly after lifting off.

Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said ammunition aboard the aircraft detonated after the crash ignited a fire. He ruled out any attack by the armed groups that operate in the region, stating that the aircraft was in airworthy condition and the crew properly qualified.

Governor Jhon Gabriel Molina of Putumayo confirmed 34 fatalities to Caracol Noticias, with 21 victims still to be identified. President Gustavo Petro said 77 people were hospitalized and 43 remained unaccounted for as of late Monday. The mayor of Puerto Leguízamo, Emilio Augusto, said local medical facilities had been overwhelmed by the scale of the emergency.

Seven military aircraft were deployed to evacuate the injured to hospitals in Bogotá and other cities. Video footage showed survivors arriving on stretchers, some motionless under thermal blankets.

The Hercules C-130 that crashed had been donated by the United States in 2020 and underwent a comprehensive overhaul in 2023, according to Colombian aviation expert Erich Saumeth. The workhorse transport aircraft, first acquired by Colombia in the late 1960s, has seen several recent incidents across South America — including a Bolivian Air Force C-130 crash in February that killed more than 20 people.

Petro used the tragedy to renew criticism of what he called bureaucratic obstacles blocking military fleet modernization. Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the crash.

Sources