People stand around a military cargo plane that crashed after taking off from Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia, a remote municipality in the Amazonian province of Putumayo, March 23, 2026
A COLOMBIAN military transport plane crashed on Monday, killing at least 66 people and leaving dozens injured.
There were 128 people on board, mostly soldiers, when the aircraft went down shortly after take-off in the small town of Puerto Leguizamo.
Armed forces head General Hugo Alejandro Lopez Barreto said that four military personnel were still missing.
“Sadly, as a consequence of this tragic accident, 66 of our military elements died,” he said.
“At the moment, we have no information, or indications, that it was an attack by an illegal armed group,” Gen Barreto added.
In a video posted on social media, Deputy Mayor Carlos Claros said that the bodies of the victims had been taken to the local morgue and that the only two clinics in town treated the injured before they were flown to larger cities.
Puerto Leguizamo is located in Putumayo, an Amazonian province that borders Ecuador and Peru.
“I want to thank the people of Puerto Leguizamo who came out to help the victims of this accident,” Mr Claros told Colombian television station RCN.
Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez said on social media that the plane was transporting troops to another city in Putumayo.
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