The Air Force says there were 114 passengers and 11 crew members on board and officials are investigating the cause of the crash.
Published on 23 March 2026
A Colombian military plane carrying 125 people has crashed after taking off in the south of the country, the Colombian Air Force said.
Air force commander Carlos Fernando Silva said in a video posted on social media that the plane was carrying 114 passengers and 11 crew members, and that authorities were still investigating the cause of the crash.
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Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said the crash occurred when the Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130 plane was taking off from Puerto Leguizamo, on the Peruvian border, carrying troops.
“Military units are already on the scene. However, the number of victims and the cause of the accident have not yet been confirmed,” Sanchez posted on social media on Monday.
“This is a very painful incident for the country. May our prayers bring some relief,” Sanchez said.
Colombian radio station Blue Radio reported that the accident occurred 3 km (2 mi) from an urban center.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said in a post on Twitter that he hoped there would be no deaths in this “terrible accident that should never have happened”.
He said, “I will not delay any longer; it is the lives of our youth at stake.”
“If civil or military administrative officials are not up to this challenge, they should be removed.”
Colombia acquired its first Hercules C-130 aircraft in the late 1960s and has recently modernized some older C-130s with newer models shipped from the United States.
Last month, another Hercules C-130 belonging to the Bolivian Air Force crashed in the city of El Alto, narrowly missing a residential building.
More than 20 people were killed and 30 others were injured in the accident.
