A military transport plane crashed just seconds after takeoff in the country’s remote Amazon region on Monday.
Killing eight people and injuring many others.
The aircraft—a Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules operated by the Colombian Air Force—was carrying 114 passengers and 11 crew members.
When it went down near the border town of Puerto Leguízamo.
Military officials say the plane was transporting troops when disaster struck.
According to air force commander Fernando Silva, at least 71 people were rescued from the wreckage.
Authorities are still working to confirm the full toll and what caused the crash.
Videos circulating online show thick smoke rising from the jungle as the aircraft slammed into the ground just a few kilometres from an urban area.
Crash Investigation
Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez said investigators are now trying to piece together exactly what went wrong.
President Gustavo Petro also weighed in, expressing concern.
And blaming bureaucratic delays for slowing efforts to modernise the country’s military fleet.
“It is the lives of our young people that are at stake,” he warned.
The crash comes barely weeks after another Hercules aircraft accident in South America.
A reminder that even the world’s most reliable military workhorses can face tragedy when something goes terribly wrong.
