Military plane crashes in southern Colombia; 80 feared dead

Bogota: Colombia's military said Monday that about 80 troops were believed to be dead after a transport plane crash in the south of the country.

A military source told AFP that two platoons - 80 people - were feared to have been aboard the Hercules aircraft which crashed on takeoff from Puerto Leguizamo, near the southern border with Ecuador.

Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez 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.

Sánchez 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," Sánchez wrote. "We hope that our prayers can help to relieve some of the pain."