A Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130 military transport plane crashed on Monday while taking off from Puerto Leguizamo in Colombia's southern Amazon region bordering Peru, the country's Defense Ministry said. Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez called it a "tragic accident."

Preliminary official figures indicate the plane was carrying 114 passengers and 11 crew members. Colombian General Carlos Fernando Silva stated in a video on X that there were 48 survivors, emphasizing these numbers are preliminary. The exact casualty count and causes of the crash have not yet been determined.

President Gustavo Petro posted on X, "I hope there are no fatalities in this horrific accident that should never have happened." He criticized "bureaucratic difficulties" for delaying his plans to modernize the military, adding, "I will grant no further delays; it is the lives of our young people that are at stake. If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to this challenge, they must be removed."

Photos circulating online show a black cloud of smoke rising from the crash site and soldiers rushing to the scene. Local outlet BluRadio reported, citing authorities, that the crash occurred just 3 kilometers (2 miles) from an urban center.

Colombia has been acquiring Hercules C-130 planes since the late 1960s, with the model first launched in the 1950s. The country recently replaced some older models with newer ones sent from the US. This incident follows a crash in February of a Hercules C-130 belonging to Bolivia's Air Force in the populous city of El Alto, which killed over 20 people and injured 30.

Source: www.dw.com