Colombia military aircraft crashes with 125 aboard, many feared dead
America
By
AFP
| Mar 23, 2026
A Colombian military plane carrying 125 troops and crew crashed on take off Monday, with as many as 80 people aboard feared dead.
The Hercules aircraft went down shortly after departure from Puerto Leguizamo, near the southern border with Ecuador, strewing burning wreckage on the jungle floor.
The troubled border area has been the scene of heavy military activity in recent weeks, as the Colombian and Ecuadoran militaries try to tackle drug-running cartels and militias.
The toll remained unclear.
Officials said that as many as 48 survivors had been found. A military source told AFP that 80 people may have been killed, although there was no official toll.
READ MORE
Credit Bank digitises Bid Bond access
No fuel crisis in Kenya, says Wandayi amid shortages
Petroleum crisis: what countries are doing to cushion citizens
Inside Karen Nyamu's Artificial Intelligence Bill
Call for return of subsidies, price reduction as fuel crisis looms
Strathmore unveils Sh2b STEM complex plan
From trust to growth: the rise of micro-multinationals
Kenyans lost a golden deal as State sold KPC to fund future projects
Images from the scene showed civilians clambering around the broken tail of the aircraft, marked FAC 1016, as smoke and flames billowed above the trees.
Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed "deep sorrow" over the disaster.
"Military units are already at the scene," Sanchez posted on social media, adding that "the number of victims and the causes of the crash have not yet been confirmed."
"It is a deeply painful event for the country. May our prayers bring some measure of comfort," said Sanchez.
General Carlos Fernando Silva Rueda said that 114 troops were aboard and 11 crew.
They had been travelling between Puerto Leguizamo and another Amazon outpost nearby.
The crash is the second by a C-130 Hercules aircraft in South America in under a month.
A Bolivian military cargo plane carrying banknotes crashed while landing near La Paz on February 27, leaving at least 24 people dead.
The Hercules is a four-engine turboprop plane built by Lockheed Martin.
Renowned for its ability to operate from makeshift airstrips, it is widely used by militaries around the world and can carry everything from troops to vehicles.