At least 66 people were killed Monday (March 23) when a military transport plane crashed shortly after takeoff in Puerto Leguizamo, a small municipality in Colombia's Amazonian Putumayo province, which borders Ecuador and Peru.

The aircraft, a Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130. was carrying 128 people, including 115 Army soldiers, 11 crew members, and two National Police officers. General Hugo Alejandro López Barreto, head of Colombia's armed forces, confirmed the death toll and said four military personnel remain missing. Fifty-seven survivors were evacuated.

"Sadly, as a consequence of this tragic accident, 66 of our military elements died," General López Barreto said.

The plane went down roughly 1.25-miles from the Puerto Leguizamo airport, according to Carlos Fernando Silva, the commander of Colombia's air force. He said the exact cause of the crash is not yet known, "except that the plane had a problem and went down about two kilometers from the airport." Two planes equipped with 74 beds were dispatched to fly the injured to hospitals in Bogotá and other cities.

Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said the plane was transporting troops to another city within Putumayo. Both Sánchez and General López Barreto stated there is no indication that the crash was the result of an attack by any illegal armed group operating near Puerto Leguizamo.

Deputy Mayor Carlos Claros said the bodies of victims were taken to the town's morgue, and the two local clinics treated the injured before they were airlifted to larger cities. "I want to thank the people of Puerto Leguizamo who came out to help the victims of this accident," Claros told Colombian television station RCN.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro thanked first responders who rushed to the crash site. "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," Petro posted to X on Monday. The president also used the occasion to call for the modernization of military aircraft, saying those efforts have been blocked by "bureaucratic difficulties" and warning that officials who fail to act "must be removed."

An investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.

The Jesse Kelly Show