A military transport plane carrying 121 people, mostly soldiers, crashed shortly after takeoff on Monday in Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia, killing at least 66 and injuring 81, authorities said. The injured were treated locally before being airlifted, while victims’ bodies were taken to the town’s morgue, officials added.
A Colombian Air Force plane has crashed in the south of the country, leaving at least eight people dead.

Air force commander Carlos Fernando Silva Rueda said 114 army personnel were on board, as well as 11 crew. He said 48 people were pulled from the plane wreckage with injuries and were in hospital.

Regional governor Jhon Gabriel Molina later said eight people were confirmed dead and more than 80 injured in Monday’s incident.

The plane, a US-made C-130 Hercules used for transporting troops, came down near the town of Puerto Leguízamo, in Putumayo province.

Emergency workers sent to the area were seen searching through the wreckage for survivors.

The cause of the crash is being investigated.Live

Colombian military plane crash kills at least 34, wounds dozens

Accident occurred in Puerto Leguizamo, a remote municipality in the Amazonian province of Putumayo.

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By AFP, Reuters and The Associated Press

Published On 23 Mar 202623 Mar 2026

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Updated: 2 hours agoUpdated: 2 hours ago

At least 34 people have died, and dozens of others have been wounded after a Colombian military plane with 125 people on board crashed after takeoff in the south of the country, officials said.

Minister of Defence Pedro Sanchez said on X that the “tragic accident” occurred in Puerto Leguizamo, a remote municipality in the Amazonian province of Putumayo, which borders the neighbouring South American countries of P

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Jhon Gabriel Molina, the governor of the Putumayo department, told local news outlet Caracol Noticias that 34 people were killed and 21 are still to be identified.

The air force said the Lockheed Martin-built Hercules C-130 had been transporting soldiers to another city in the Putumayo province.

Sanchez said the plane hit the ground just 1.5km (0.9 miles) away from where it took ⁠off. Ammunition being carried on board detonated as a result of a fire ⁠on the aircraft, he added.

There ⁠was no indication of an “attack by illegal actors”, Sanchez said.

Carlos Fernando Silva, the commander of Colombia’s Air Force, said two planes, with 74 beds, had been sent to the area to fly the injured back to hospitals in the capital, Bogota, and elsewhere.