Colombian Air Force plane crashes with scores of soldiers on board

A Colombian Air Force plane has crashed in the south of the country, near the border with Peru.

A Colombian military official told AFP news agency that two platoons - around 80 soldiers - were believed to be on board the aircraft at the time of Monday's accident, while local media report that the number could be higher and exceed 100.

The plane, a US-made C-130 Hercules used for transporting troops, came down near the town of Puerto Leguízamo, in Putumayo province.

Emergency workers have been dispatched to the area, and Reuters news agency is quoting two military sources as saying that 71 people have been rescued alive from the wreckage.

Colombian Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez said the plane had suffered "a tragic accident while it was taking off from Puerto Leguízamo, transporting troops of our security forces".

He added that the exact number of victims was not yet known but described the incident as "deeply sad for the country".

Images shared by local media show a plume of smoke rising from the site and trucks carrying soldiers heading to the area.

Footage on local news sites also appears to show locals transporting what seem to be injured soldiers from the accident site to hospitals on the back of small motorbikes.

President Gustavo Petro wrote on X that he "hopes that we won't have fatalities in this horrendous accident which should not have happened".

In the lengthy post, he also blamed "bureaucratic problems" for holding up his plans to modernise the armed forces' equipment and their aircraft.

"I will allow no further delays, the lives of our young people are at stake," he wrote without clarifying what may have caused the accident.