A military cargo plane crashed shortly after taking off Monday in southwestern Colombia, causing an undetermined number of casualties, the country`s defense minister said.
Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X that the “tragic accident” occurred in Puerto Leguizamo, a remote municipality in the Amazonian province of Putumayo, which borders Peru and Ecuador.
Images shared online by local media outlets show a black cloud of smoke rising from a field where the plane crashed, and a truck with soldiers rushing to the site.
Sanchez did not specify the number of troops who were aboard the Hercules C-130. He said rescue teams had been sent to the site of the crash and that the cause of the accident still hasn`t been determined.
“This event is profoundly painful for the country,” Sanchez wrote. “We hope that our prayers can help to relieve some of the pain.”