A Colombian Air Force Hercules transport aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Puerto Leguizamo on Monday, killing at least 66 people in one of the country’s deadliest recent military aviation disasters. Authorities said the plane was carrying 128 people, including 115 army personnel, 11 crew members, and two National Police officers. Dozens of others were rescued and taken for treatment as search and recovery teams continued working at the remote crash site.

Colombia’s Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said the aircraft went down while transporting troops in Putumayo province. In a public statement, he described the accident as a tragedy for the country and said there were no early signs that the plane had been brought down by an illegal armed group. Officials later said four personnel were still missing as rescuers worked through the wreckage and surrounding terrain.

Images and video from the scene showed a massive column of black smoke rising from a field near the airport as the aircraft was consumed by flames. According to reporting from the scene, the plane appeared to encounter trouble near the end of the runway during takeoff before crashing less than two kilometers away. The difficult location slowed rescue operations, with local residents among the first to help pull survivors from the burning wreckage.

The crash has sparked renewed scrutiny of Colombia’s military air fleet and the condition of older aircraft used for troop transport. President Gustavo Petro criticized reliance on secondhand planes and called for accountability as investigators began examining what caused the disaster. The downed Hercules, which had been donated by the United States in 2020 and overhauled in 2023, is now at the center of an investigation expected to focus on the aircraft’s failure moments after liftoff.