Colombian President Gustavo Petro mourned a “dreadful accident that should never have happened.”
Published on March 23, 2026 at 18:56, updated at 23:28, estimated reading time of 1 minute.
/2026/03/23/000-a4f99zq-69c179bdb35f2405925715.jpg "In Colombia, military plane crash kills eight and injures 83")
Caption: Flames and thick black smoke rise from the plane that crashed on March 23, 2026 in Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia. (DANIEL ORTIZ / AFP)
A military plane crashed on Monday, March 23 in southern Colombia with 125 people on board, resulting in at least eight deaths and 83 injuries. The Hercules C-130 aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Puerto Leguizamo near the Ecuadorian border. The reasons for the crash are still unknown.
Rescue teams are on site, facing difficulties evacuating the victims from the small airport. The latest toll stands at eight deaths and 83 injuries. Initially, the army mentioned around 80 deaths and 48 injuries.
Images show the plane debris engulfed in flames surrounded by thick black smoke and vegetation. President Gustavo Petro described it as a “dreadful accident that should never have happened” and mentioned the need to modernize the military fleet, without confirming a direct link to the accident. He also shared a video showing an aircraft attempting to gain altitude before crashing.
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