Colombian Military C-130 Hercules Crash Near Peruvian Border Leaves 110 Soldiers Unaccounted For With 57 Rescued
Rescue operations are underway in southern Colombia after a military transport aircraft carrying more than 110 soldiers went down shortly after takeoff, prompting an emergency response from Colombian authorities.
The aircraft, reported to be a Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules, came down near Puerto Leguízamo, a town in the Putumayo province close to the Colombian-Peruvian border. Two sources have confirmed that 57 people have so far been pulled from the crash site.
Colombia’s Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez described the incident as “a tragic accident” that occurred as the aircraft was taking off while transporting troops from the security forces. He called it “deeply sad for the country” but did not address the question of casualties directly.
Video footage circulating online appears to show the military aircraft failing to gain sufficient height or distance after takeoff before beginning to descend.
President Gustavo Petro responded to the crash on social media, expressing hope that there would be no fatalities and using the incident to renew his calls for military modernisation. “I will grant no further delays; it is the lives of our young people that are at stake,” he wrote, warning that officials failing to meet the challenge “must be removed.”
The C-130 Hercules is among the older aircraft in Colombia’s military fleet. The type was first introduced in the 1950s, with Colombia acquiring its initial aircraft in the late 1960s. Some of the country’s ageing Hercules planes have in recent years undergone upgrades using surplus models transferred from the United States under a bilateral military equipment programme. The specific condition and variant of the aircraft involved in this crash has not yet been confirmed.
The crash comes weeks after a separate C-130 incident in Bolivia, where an Air Force Hercules went down over the densely populated city of El Alto in late February. That accident killed more than 20 people and injured around 30 others.
Rescue efforts at the Puerto Leguízamo site are ongoing. Authorities have not yet issued a full account of those unaccounted for, and the cause of the crash remains under investigation.
