A Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130 military transport plane crashed shortly after takeoff in Colombia’s southern Amazon region on Monday, with dozens of soldiers feared dead and rescue teams racing to reach survivors in remote jungle terrain.

Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said the aircraft went down near Puerto Leguízamo, a municipality in Putumayo province that sits on Colombia’s border with Peru. The plane was transporting armed forces troops when it suffered what Sánchez called a “tragic accident” during takeoff.

“The exact number of victims and the causes of the crash have not yet been determined,” Sánchez wrote on X.

Uncertain Toll, Urgent Rescue

Local media outlet BluRadio reported that between 80 and 110 soldiers were aboard the aircraft. Two military sources told Reuters that 57 people had been evacuated alive from the wreckage, though some local outlets placed the rescue figure as high as 67. If confirmed, the discrepancy would leave more than 50 service members unaccounted for.

The crash site lies roughly 3 kilometers (2 miles) from an urban center. Images shared by Colombian media showed a thick column of black smoke rising from a field, with military trucks seen rushing toward the scene.

Sánchez did not specify how many troops were aboard. The Hercules C-130 can be configured to carry up to 120 people.

A President’s Frustration

President Gustavo Petro responded to the disaster with an unusually sharp rebuke of his own government’s military bureaucracy, tying the crash to what he described as stalled efforts to modernize Colombia’s aging fleet.

“I hope there are no fatalities in this horrific accident that should never have happened,” Petro wrote on X. “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.”

Colombia acquired its first C-130 Hercules aircraft in the late 1960s. The four-engine turboprop, first produced by Lockheed Martin in the 1950s, remains a workhorse for military transport worldwide. The U.S. has transferred newer surplus C-130s to Colombia under programs allowing the sale of used military equipment, though details about the specific aircraft involved in Monday’s crash were not immediately available.

A Troubling Pattern

The disaster follows another C-130 crash just last month in neighboring Bolivia, where a Bolivian Air Force Hercules went down in the city of El Alto, killing more than 20 people and injuring 30 others. That crash scattered banknotes across residential streets, triggering clashes between residents and security forces.

Colombia has also seen other recent aviation tragedies. In January, a small passenger plane crashed in the country’s north, killing all 15 people aboard, including a sitting member of congress.

Rescue operations at Puerto Leguízamo are complicated by the region’s dense Amazon vegetation and limited infrastructure. Sánchez said all protocols for assisting victims and their families have been activated, and an investigation into the cause of the crash is underway.

“This is a profoundly painful event for the country,” Sánchez said. “We hope that our prayers can help to relieve some of the pain.”

Lockheed Martin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sources