Colombian military plane with '110 soldiers on board' crashes after takeoff, officials confirm
A military transport plane reportedly carrying 110 soldiers in Colombia has crashed during takeoff, the country's defence minister has confirmed.
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The accident took place as the Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130 was taking off from Puerto Leguízamo in the southern Amazon region on the border with Peru, while it transported troops from the armed forces.
Colombia's defence minister Pedro Sánchez said rescue teams had been deployed to the crash site but the cause of the accident was unknown.
He said: "The exact number of victims and the causes of the crash have not yet been determined."
Local media reported that 110 soldiers were on board the aircraft, which came down three kilometres (two miles) from an urban centre.
Images shared online by outlets appear to show a black cloud of smoke rising from a field where the plane crashed.
President Gustavo Petro said in a post on X: "I hope there are no fatalities in this horrific accident that should never have happened."
"I will grant no further delays; it is the lives of our young people that are at stake.
"If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to this challenge, they must be removed."
It comes after another Hercules C-130 belonging to the Bolivian Air Force crashed in the city of Alto last month which narrowly missed a residential block.