Colombian Air Force plane crashes with 125 people on board

Air force commander Carlos Fernando Silva Rueda confirmed 114 passengers were on board, as well as 11 crew members. He said so far 48 people have been recovered from the plane with injuries and are in hospital.

He has not confirmed yet if there are any fatalities.

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 to comb through the wreckage and aid the injured.

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.

Last month, a Bolivian Air Force C-130 Hercules transporting banknotes crashed in the west of the country, killing at least 20 people.

Colombia has become a tech hub for Latin America, but attracting investors is a challenge.

Colombia's leader says he urged Trump to work with him to target drug kingpins. Trump says they "got along very well".

As the US and Colombian presidents meet, Orla Guerin joins a police unit tasked with finding and destroying jungle cocaine labs.

Despite some recent cordiality, the Colombian and American leaders have long traded barbs and accusations.