[EGOIS]

Bogotá, March 23 (EFE) - A Hercules plane belonging to the Colombian Air Force (FAC) carrying dozens of soldiers crashed on Monday minutes after taking off from Puerto Leguízamo airport, in the department of Putumayo (south), reported Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez Suárez, without confirming the number of casualties.

[Mr.NoCredit]

That’s a huge aircraft. Seeing them wrapping bodies up like the butcher packs up meat I’m glad there’s some survivors.

[yah]

Colombia military plane crash kills 66, four still missing

BOGOTA, March 23 (Reuters) - A Colombian military plane crashed in a ​takeoff disaster on Monday, killing 66 people as rescuers shuttled dozens of survivors to nearby hospitals and searched for four *who were still missing, according to a top official.

The Lockheed Martin-built (LMT.N), opens new tab Hercules C-130 transport plane was carrying 128 people, including 11 Air Force members, 115 army personnel and two national police officers, according to Hugo Alejandro Lopez, head of the nation's armed forces.

The death toll was nearly double that of the previous figure given by ​authorities, who continued search and recovery efforts at the site of the deadly crash.

The accident occurred as the plane was taking ​off from Puerto Leguizamo, on the border with Peru, Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X.

The plane was believed ⁠to have suffered an impact near the end of the runway as it was taking off, firefighter Eduardo San Juan Callejas told Caracol, ​with a wing of the plane later clipping a tree as it was plummeting.

The crash caused the plane to catch fire and detonate some ​sort of explosive devices on board, he added.

Residents of the remote area were the first to pull out survivors, with videos showing men speeding down a dirt road with wounded soldiers on the back of their motorcycles.

Military vehicles later arrived, though authorities said the crash site was difficult to reach, impeding rescue efforts.

Lopez said that 57 ​of the survivors had been hospitalized, with 30 of them in non-serious condition at a military clinic.

MODERNIZING THE MILITARY

President Gustavo Petro, in the ​twilight of his administration, on Monday criticized bureaucratic obstacles for delaying his plans to modernize the military.

"I will grant no further delays; it is the lives of our young ⁠people that are at stake," he said in a post on X. "If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to this challenge, they must be removed."

Several candidates in Colombia's upcoming May 31 presidential election offered condolences and called for an investigation.

A spokesperson for Lockheed Martin said the company was committed to helping Colombia as it investigates the incident.

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 provision that allows for the transfer of used or surplus military equipment.

Hercules C-130s are frequently used in Colombia to transport troops as part of the military's ​operations amid a six-decade-long internal conflict that has claimed more than 450,000 lives.

The tail number of the plane ​that crashed on Monday ⁠matches that of the first of three planes delivered by the U.S. to Colombia in recent years.

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 crash site, prompting clashes ​between residents and security forces.

[yah]

In case anyone with edit capabilities wants to fix the following error that happened when I copied the original article:

In the snippet "The Lockheed Martin-built (LMT.N), opens new tab..." the ", opens new tab" part (including the comma) can be deleted.

[Mecrupulent]

At the end of the penultimate video, you can see the tail of the plane and there is "FAC" written on it... Interestingly enough, this was also most of the victim's last word before impact.

[tiduspr]

Second video towards the end…. That guy helping lift the body almost gets wrapped up in the body bag himself