A navy transport airplane with 128 folks on board, principally troopers, crashed shortly after taking off Monday in Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia, killing not less than 66 folks and leaving dozens injured, the pinnacle of Colombia’s armed forces stated.
Common Hugo Alejandro López Barreto stated that 4 navy personnel had been nonetheless lacking.
“Sadly, as a consequence of this tragic accident, 66 of our navy parts died,” he stated.
“In the mean time, we now have no info, or indications, that it was an assault by an unlawful armed group,” Barreto added.
In a video posted on social media, Deputy Mayor Carlos Claros stated that the our bodies of the victims had been taken to the small city’s morgue, and that the one two clinics on the town handled the injured earlier than they had been flown to bigger cities. Puerto Leguizamo is situated in Putumayo, an Amazonian province that borders Ecuador and Peru.
“I need to thank the folks of Puerto Leguizamo who got here out to assist the victims of this accident,” Claros instructed Colombian tv station RCN.
Protection Minister Pedro Sánchez stated on X that the airplane that crashed Monday was transporting troops to a different metropolis in Putumayo.
Pictures shared on-line by Colombian media retailers confirmed a black cloud of smoke rising from a area the place the airplane crashed and a truck with troopers dashing to the positioning.
The airplane had 128 folks on board, together with 115 had been from the Military, 11 crew members and a pair of from the Nationwide Police. Baretto stated 57 folks had been evacuated.
Media retailers shared movies of troopers being rushed from the positioning on bikes pushed by native residents, whereas one other group of residents tried to place out the hearth that the airplane crash had created in a area surrounded by dense foliage.
Carlos Fernando Silva, the commander of Colombia’s air pressure, stated particulars of the crash weren’t but identified, “besides that the airplane had an issue and went down about two kilometers from the airport.”
The air pressure commander added that two planes, with 74 beds, had been despatched to the world to fly the injured again to hospitals within the capital, Bogota, and elsewhere.
Petro seized on the accident to advertise what he known as his longtime marketing campaign to modernize planes and different gear utilized by his nation’s navy, saying these efforts have been blocked by “bureaucratic difficulties” and suggesting that some officers ought to be held accountable.
“If civilian or navy administrative officers are lower than the problem, they have to be eliminated,” Petro stated.
Critics of the president identified that navy plane have been given much less flight hours underneath the Petro administration as a result of funds cuts, which results in much less skilled crews.
Erich Saumeth, a Colombian aviation professional and navy analyst, stated that the Hercules C-130 that crashed Monday had been donated by america to Colombia in 2020. Three years later, it went by means of an in depth revision often known as an overhaul, during which its engines had been inspected and key elements had been changed.
“I don’t assume this airplane crashed due to an absence of excellent elements,” Saumeth stated. He stated that investigations must decide why the engines of the Hercules, which has 4 propellers, failed so rapidly after take off.
In a message on X Monday, Protection Minister Sánchez stated that to this point there have been no indicators indicating that the airplane was attacked by insurgent teams that function close to Puerto Leguizamo.
Sánchez wrote that the accident was “profoundly painful for the nation,” including that: “We hope that our prayers will help to alleviate a few of the ache.”
