A Colombian military plane crashes in the Amazon with more than one hundred people on board

BarcelonaA Colombian Air Force military transport plane crashed Monday morning near Puerto Leguízamo, in the department of Putumayo, in southern Colombia. The Hercules aircraft was carrying 125 people, mostly military personnel. Despite the magnitude of the accident, the death toll currently stands at eight. Eighty-three passengers sustained injuries, and of these, 14 are in critical condition, according to authorities. The accident occurred shortly after takeoff, as confirmed on social media by Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez Suárez.

Local sources cited by the newspaper The Herald They indicate that the plane had departed around 6:00 a.m. from the Catam air base in Bogotá. Although figures circulating on social media point to dozens of deaths, authorities insist that there is still no confirmed official count. "Military units are already at the scene; however, the number of victims and the causes of the crash have not yet been precisely determined," the minister stated. The crash site is a mountainous area with difficult access, which will hinder rescue efforts. On flights like the one of the crashed plane, in addition to transporting military personnel, the Colombian Air Force often carries civilians living in remote areas of the country that are inaccessible by road to other parts of the country for medical attention. The governor of the Putumayo department, Jhon Gabriel Molina, confirmed that the crash occurred a few minutes after takeoff. The regional leader explained that emergency teams are still working on rescue efforts. "We don't yet have a concrete assessment; we are focused on the emergency and attending to the injured." Molina also detailed that the area where the accident occurred, located in the heart of the Amazon, is mostly flat, making a collision between the aircraft and mountains unlikely. He further warned that the hospital in Puerto Leguízamo, the closest town to the site of the tragedy, does not have sufficient capacity to handle an emergency of this magnitude. However, he assured that all available resources are being mobilized to provide initial medical care to the injured. For his part, the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, linked the accident to structural deficiencies in the Armed Forces and reiterated that modernizing weaponry has been a priority for his government for years. In this regard, he criticized the bureaucratic obstacles that, he said, prevented progress on the administrative mechanisms necessary to implement these improvements. The president also announced that he has ordered the modernization of the helicopter and transport aircraft fleet and has called an urgent meeting with the Minister of Defense to address the situation. In the same message, Petro expressed his concern for the possible victims of the accident and called for calm and national unity.