One useless, not less than 77 hospitalized after army aircraft crashes shortly after takeoff | EUROtoday

A Colombian Air Force aircraft carrying 125 folks crashed simply after takeoff deep within the nation’s southern Amazon area on Monday, killing not less than one particular person and hospitalizing 77 others, authorities stated.

The standing of greater than 40 folks on board is but to be confirmed, President Gustavo Petro posted on X.

Colombian Air Force Commander Fernando Silva stated in a video posted on social media that the aircraft was carrying 114 passengers and 11 crew members, with authorities nonetheless investigating the trigger.

Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez earlier said on X that the Lockheed Martin-built LMT.N Hercules C-130 was taking off from Puerto Leguizamo on the border with Peru, transporting troops, when the accident occurred.

Footage printed by native outlet BluRadio confirmed thick plumes of smoke rising from the crash web site, positioned simply 3 km (2 miles) from an city centre.

One video depicted the plane heading in the direction of the bottom moments after departing. Authorities are presently investigating the reason for the crash.

US protection firm Lockheed Martin didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

“I hope there are no fatalities in this horrific accident that should never have happened,” President Gustavo Petro stated in a publish on X, by which he criticised bureaucratic obstacles for delaying his plans to modernise the army.

“I will grant no further delays; it is the lives of our young people that are at stake,” he stated. “If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to this challenge, they must be removed.”

Hercules C-130 planes have been first launched within the Nineteen Fifties and Colombia acquired its first fashions within the late Sixties. It has extra not too long ago modernized some older C-130s with newer fashions despatched from the U.S. below a legislation that permits for the switch of used or surplus army gear.

Additional particulars of the aircraft concerned within the accident weren’t instantly accessible.

Several candidates in Colombia’s upcoming May 31 presidential election expressed condolences to the households of the injured troopers on social media and referred to as for an investigation.

Colombia’s Commander General of the Armed Forces Hugo Lopez vowed to reply with “the utmost responsibility, humanity and transparency”.

At the tip of February, one other Hercules C-130 belonging to the Bolivian Air Force crashed within the populous metropolis of El Alto, barely lacking a residential block.

More than 20 folks died in that incident and one other 30 have been injured, and banknotes from the aircraft’s cargo scattered across the metropolis, prompting clashes between residents and safety forces.