Military Plane Carrying 125 Crashes in Colombia

A military cargo plane crashed shortly after taking off Monday in southwestern Colombia, causing an undetermined number of casualties, the country's defense minister said. Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said on X that the "tragic accident" occurred in Puerto Leguizamo, a remote municipality in the Amazonian province of Putumayo, which borders Peru and Ecuador, the AP reports. Images shared online by local media outlets show a black cloud of smoke rising from a field where the Hercules C-130 crashed, and a truck with soldiers rushing to the site. The New York Times reports that officials say the aircraft was carrying 114 troops and 11 crew members.

Sánchez rescue teams had been sent to the site of the crash and that the cause of the accident still hasn't been determined. "I hope there will be no deadly casualties in this accident that should have not occurred," Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote on X. Petro seized on the accident to promote what he called his long-time campaign to modernize planes and other equipment used by his country's military, saying those efforts have been blocked by "bureaucratic difficulties" and suggesting that some officials should be held accountable. "If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to the challenge, they must be removed," Petro said.

Sánchez wrote that the accident was "profoundly painful for the country," adding that: "We hope that our prayers can help to relieve some of the pain." The commander of Colombia's air force, Gen. Carlos Fernando Silva Rueda, said an investigation is underway. "At this time we don't have any more details except that as soon as it took off, the airplane suffered a problem and descended toward the ground, a couple of kilometers from the airport," he said, per the Times.