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The death toll from a military transport plane crash in southern Colombia has risen to 66, authorities confirmed on Tuesday.
The plane, which was carrying at least 128 people, mostly soldiers, went down shortly after taking off from Puerto Leguízamo, a municipality in the Amazon region near the borders with Ecuador and Peru. Dozens of others were injured in the incident.
At least 66 people have been confirmed dead after a military aircraft carrying more than 120 people crashed shortly after takeoff in Colombia, prompting a large-scale rescue operation in a remote jungle region near the country’s southern border. @afuathescot reports. pic.twitter.com/fEw7ISDDka
— News Central TV (@NewsCentralTV) March 25, 2026
Colombian President Gustavo Petro commended residents who rushed to the crash site to assist victims, saying their actions reflected a spirit of national solidarity. He expressed gratitude to those who helped rescue survivors.
“That is how a homeland is built, I thank the fathers and mothers who ran across the distance to the crashed Hercules plane to save the children of other mothers and fathers,” Gustavo Petro posted to X( formerly Twitter) on Monday.
Following the crash, Petro has also pushed for urgent upgrades to the country’s military equipment, warning that delays in modernising aircraft could cost lives. He indicated that officials unable to meet the challenge of reform should be replaced.
Una nación necesita respaldar a sus Soldados y Policias. Y las fuerzas militares, equipos y naves seguros,
Lamentamos que Hercules de Fuerza Aérea se accidentara en un vuelo de apoyo con más de 100 Soldados
Solidaridad con familias.
Qué esta pasando con el mantenimiento ? pic.twitter.com/uizj0fD8tP
— Diego Molano Aponte (@Diego_Molano) March 23, 2026
“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.”
The aircraft involved was a Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130, and the cause of the crash is still under investigation.
Armed forces chief Hugo Alejandro Lopez Barreto said there was no immediate indication that the crash was linked to rebel activity in the area.
The tragedy comes weeks after a similar Hercules C-130 crash involving the Bolivian Air Force in El Alto, which killed more than 20 people and injured several others.
