Columbia, March 24: Sixty-six people died Monday when a Colombian Hercules C-130 transport plane crashed and caught fire shortly after departing a runway in Puerto Leguizamo. The aircraft, which was transporting 115 soldiers and 13 other officials, reportedly struck an object at the runway’s edge before a wing hit a tree and the vessel fell to the ground.
Emergency responders managed to rescue 57 survivors, though four individuals remain unaccounted for in the rugged terrain. Hugo Alejandro Lopez, head of the armed forces, affirmed that the recovery of victims is ongoing and stated that the casualty count nearly doubled following initial assessments.
Firefighter Eduardo San Juan Callejas declared that the crash was complicated by the presence of explosive devices on the plane, which detonated during the fire. Remote geography hindered the arrival of heavy military equipment, forcing civilians to use dirt roads and private motorcycles to ferry the injured to safety.
The incident has sparked immediate political reaction ahead of the May 31 presidential election. President Gustavo Petro asserted that bureaucratic obstacles have stalled essential military updates for too long. He maintained that if civilian or military administrators are not up to the challenge of ensuring safety, they must be removed from their posts.
This tragedy follows a similar February incident in El Alto, Bolivia, involving the same aircraft model. Lockheed Martin representatives stated that they are prepared to help Colombia investigate why the plane, part of a recent transfer of equipment from the U.S., failed during takeoff. Candidates in the upcoming election expressed their condolences and called for a transparent inquiry into the military’s aviation safety protocols.
