A tragic incident occurred as a Colombian Air Force aircraft crashed shortly after taking off in the southern Amazon region, leaving at least 34 people dead. The plane was carrying 125 individuals at the time of the accident.

According to Jhon Gabriel Molina, the governor of Colombia’s Putumayo department, 21 of the passengers are yet to be identified, as reported by Caracol Noticias.

The unfortunate event transpired on Monday when the Hercules C-130, a plane manufactured by Lockheed Martin, attempted to take off from Puerto Leguizamo, near the Peruvian border. The aircraft was on a mission to transport troops, as stated by Colombia’s defense minister, Pedro Sánchez, on the social media platform X.

The aircraft crashed approximately 1.5 kilometers from its departure point, igniting a fire that triggered an explosion of ammunition onboard, Sánchez later explained.

Defense Minister Sánchez emphasized that there was no evidence of interference by any illegal groups. He also assured that the aircraft was in proper condition and manned by a competent crew before departure.

Local media outlet BluRadio captured footage of the aftermath, showing dense smoke billowing from the crash site. Additional video footage depicted the aircraft descending rapidly just moments after taking off.

Colombian Air Force commander Fernando Silva said in a video posted on social media that the plane was carrying 114 passengers and 11 crew members, and that authorities were still investigating the cause of the crash.

In an earlier post on X, Petro criticised bureaucratic obstacles for delaying his plans to modernise the military.

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

Several candidates in Colombia’s upcoming 31 May presidential election ‌offered condolences and called for an investigation.

A spokesperson for US defence company Lockheed Martin said the company extended condolences to those affected by the crash and that it was committed to helping Colombia as it ‌investigates the incident.

Hercules C-130 planes were first launched in the 1950s and Colombia acquired its first models in the late 1960s. It has more recently modernised some older C-130s with newer models sent from the US under a provision that allows for the transfer of used or surplus military equipment.

Hercules C-130s are frequently used in Colombia to transport troops as part of the military’s operations amid a six-decade-long internal conflict that has claimed more than 450,000 lives.

The tail number of the plane that crashed on Monday matches that of the first of three US Air Force planes delivered by the US in recent years, ‌which arrived in late 2020.

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