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A military transport plane carrying 128 people, mostly soldiers, crashed shortly after takeoff in Colombia’s Puerto Leguizamo on Monday, killing at least 66 and injuring dozens, the head of Colombia’s armed forces said.
General Hugo Alejandro López Barreto said four military personnel were still missing.
“Sadly, 66 of our military personnel were killed as a result of this tragic accident,” he said.
“At this time, we have no information or indication that this was an attack by any illegal armed group,” Barreto said.
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On March 23, 2026, a military transport plane crashed near Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia, shortly after takeoff, killing at least 66 people and injuring dozens. (Miputumayo via AP)
In a video posted on social media, Deputy Mayor Carlos Claros said that the bodies of the victims were taken to the small town’s morgue, and that the city’s only two clinics treated the injured before being taken to larger cities. Puerto Leguizamo is located in Putumayo, an Amazonian province on the border of Ecuador and Peru.
“I want to thank the people of Puerto Leguizamo who came to help the victims of this accident,” Claros told Colombian television station RCN.
Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez told X that the plane that crashed on Monday was carrying troops to another town in Putumayo.
Images shared online by Colombian media outlets showed a black cloud of smoke rising from the area where the plane crashed and a truck carrying soldiers rushing to the scene.
There were 128 people on board the airplane, including 115 from the military, 11 crew members and two from the National Police. Barreto said 57 people were evacuated.
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Emergency crews and local residents rush to help survivors after a deadly military plane crash in southern Colombia on March 23, 2026. (Armed Forces of Colombia Press Office via AP)
Media outlets shared videos of soldiers being evacuated from the scene on motorcycles driven by local residents, while another group of residents tried to extinguish the fire caused by the accident in a field surrounded by dense foliage.
Colombia’s Air Force Commander Carlos Fernando Silva said details of the crash were not yet known, “except that the plane had a problem and it fell about two kilometers from the airport.”
The air force commander said two planes with 74 beds each were sent to the area to fly the injured back to hospitals in the capital Bogota and elsewhere.
President Gustavo Petro took advantage of the crash to promote his longtime campaign to modernize aircraft 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 should be removed,” Petro said.
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On March 23, 2026, a C-130 plane carrying mostly troops crashed near Puerto Leguizamo, with no signs of an attack by armed groups, officials say. (Armed Forces of Colombia Press Office via AP)
Critics of the president pointed out that budget cuts under the Petro administration have resulted in fewer flying hours for military aircraft, resulting in less experienced crews.
Erich Someth, a Colombian aviation expert and military analyst, said the Hercules C-130 that crashed on Monday was donated by the United States to Colombia in 2020. Three years later, it underwent an overhaul, in which its engines were inspected and major components were replaced.
“I don’t think this plane crashed because of a lack of good parts,” Someth said. He said the investigation would seek to determine why the engines of the Hercules, which has four propellers, failed so soon after takeoff.
एक्स सोमवार को एक संदेश में, रक्षा मंत्री सांचेज़ ने कहा कि अब तक इस बात के कोई संकेत नहीं हैं कि विमान पर प्यूर्टो लेगुइज़ामो के पास सक्रिय विद्रोही समूहों द्वारा हमला किया गया था।
Sánchez wrote that the accident was “extremely painful for the country,” adding, “We hope that our prayers can help relieve some of the pain.”
