66 killed in Colombian military plane crash 

Sixty-six members of Colombia’s armed forces were killed when a military aircraft crashed shortly after take-off in the south of the country early on Monday, authorities said.

Colombian Chief of Defence Hugo Alejandro López Barreto said: “Sadly, as a consequence of this tragic accident, 66 of our armed forces members died.”

The defence chief also said that 128 people had been on board.

They are 11 members of the Colombian Aerospace Force, 115 members of the army, and two members of the national police force.

Initially, authorities had said that 125 had been on board.

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The C-130 Hercules plane was travelling from Puerto Leguízamo to Puerto Asís, in the Putumayo Department near the border with Peru, when it crashed shortly after taking off.

The cause of the accident remains unclear.

Videos showing clouds of grey smoke and wreckage have been published on social media. 

dpa/NAN.

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