At least 66 individuals lost their lives following the crash of a military transport plane shortly after it took off in Colombia on Monday.

The aircraft, which was carrying 128 passengers, most of whom were military personnel, crashed in Puerto Leguizamo, a location on the western fringe of the Amazon. The incident resulted in numerous injuries, as confirmed by the head of Colombia’s armed forces.

General Hugo Alejandro López Barreto reported that four military members are still unaccounted for.

“Tragically, this unfortunate accident claimed the lives of 66 members of our military,” he stated.

General Barreto further mentioned, “Currently, there is no evidence or suggestion that an illegal armed group was responsible for this incident.”

In a social media video, Deputy Mayor Carlos Claros conveyed that the victims’ bodies were transported to the local morgue, while the town’s two clinics initially treated the injured before they were transferred to larger medical facilities in nearby cities.

Puerto Leguizamo is located in Putumayo, an Amazonian province that borders Ecuador and Peru.

‘I want to thank the people of Puerto Leguizamo who came out to help the victims of this accident,’ Claros told Colombian television station RCN.

BluRadio cited authorities as saying 128 ​soldiers were on board, and that the crash took place ‌just 2 miles from a city center

The aircraft, a Hercules C-130 used for transporting troops, came down near the town of Puerto Leguízamo, in Putumayo province

Military personnel seen being transferred to the Military Transport Air Command CATAM Air Base after a Colombian Air Force plane crashed in a rural area near Puerto Leguizamo

Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said on X that the plane that crashed on Monday was transporting troops to another city in Putumayo. 

Images shared online by Colombian media outlets showed a black cloud of smoke rising from a field where the plane crashed and a truck with soldiers rushing to the site.

The airplane had 128 people on board, including 115 were from the Army, 11 crew members and 2 from the National Police. Baretto said 57 people were evacuated.

Media outlets shared videos of soldiers being rushed from the site on motorcycles driven by local residents, while another group of residents tried to put out the fire that the plane crash had created in a field surrounded by dense foliage.

Carlos Fernando Silva, the commander of Colombia’s air force, said details of the crash were not yet known, ‘except that the plane had a problem and went down about two kilometers from the airport.’

The air force commander added that two planes, with 74 beds, were sent to the area to fly the injured back to hospitals in the capital, Bogota, and elsewhere.

Petro seized on the accident to promote what he called his longtime campaign to modernize planes and other equipment used by his country’s military, saying those efforts have been blocked by ‘bureaucratic difficulties’ and suggesting that some officials should be held accountable.

‘If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to the challenge, they must be removed,’ Petro said.

People stand around a military cargo plane that crashed after taking off from Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia, a remote municipality in the Amazonian province of Putumayo

Flames and thick black smoke rise from an Air Force Hercules that crashed during takeoff

Colombia’s military said about 80 troops were believed to be dead after the plane crash

Soldiers and rescuers could be seen standing around as smoke billowed from the wreckage

There appeared to be very little of the plane remaining following the disaster

Some locals could be seen trying to douse the flames with hosepipes 

The aircraft, a C-130 Hercules, was carrying at least 110 soldiers and 11 crew members

Critics of the president pointed out that military aircraft have been given less flight hours under the Petro administration due to budget cuts, which leads to less experienced crews.

Erich Saumeth, a Colombian aviation expert and military analyst, said that the Hercules C-130 that crashed Monday had been donated by the United States to Colombia in 2020. 

Three years later, it went through a detailed revision known as an overhaul, in which its engines were inspected and key components were replaced.

‘I don’t think this plane crashed because of a lack of good parts,’ Saumeth said. He said that investigations will have to determine why the engines of the Hercules, which has four propellers, failed so quickly after take off.

The degree of injuries appeared to vary among the survivors 

People who were injured on a military cargo plane that crashed shortly after take off are loaded on to another military plane to evacuate them for treatment, from Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia

Those who were injured on a military cargo plane were placed on another military aircraft to take them to the Colombian capital

Ambulances transport victims of a plane crash to the Central Military Hospital in Bogota

 Ambulances transport victims of theplane crash to the Central Military Hospital in Bogota

Emergency vehicles are seen in convey traveling through the streets of the Colombian capital

In a message on X Monday, Defense Minister Sánchez said that so far there were no signs indicating that the plane was attacked by rebel groups that operate near Puerto Leguizamo.

Sánchez wrote that the accident was ‘profoundly painful for the country,’ adding that: ‘We hope that our prayers can help to relieve some of the pain.’