Breaking: Over 100 soldiers feared dead as military plane crashes

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

A Colombian military aircraft carrying more than 100 soldiers has crashed in the country’s remote southern region, triggering fears of heavy casualties and prompting an urgent rescue operation, officials said on Monday.

The aircraft, identified as a Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules, went down shortly after takeoff near Puerto Leguízamo in Putumayo province, a sparsely populated area bordering Peru and Ecuador.

Colombia’s Defence Minister described the incident as “tragic,” confirming that emergency teams had been deployed to the crash site as authorities scrambled to assess the scale of the disaster.

Local media reports indicate that approximately 110 soldiers were on board the military transport plane at the time of the crash, raising concerns about a potentially high death toll, although officials have yet to release confirmed casualty figures.

Eyewitness images circulating online showed thick black smoke billowing from the crash site, with military personnel rushing to the scene in a desperate effort to rescue survivors.

Authorities said the cause of the crash remains unclear, with investigators expected to examine technical faults, weather conditions and operational factors.

The Hercules C-130 aircraft is widely used by militaries around the world for troop transport and logistics operations, making Monday’s crash particularly significant given the large number of personnel reportedly on board.

The incident has sent shockwaves across Colombia, with officials expressing condolences to families of those involved and warning that the full human toll may take time to establish due to the remote location of the crash.