Columbia Plane Crash: At Least 66 Dead In Military Plane Crash

A Colombian military plane carrying 125 soldiers and crew members crashed on takeoff early Monday, killing at least 66 people and injuring dozens of others, officials said. The C-130 Hercules aircraft went down shortly after departure from Puerto Leguizamo, near the southern border with Ecuador and Peru, strewing burning wreckage on the jungle floor. A military source told AFP that 58 soldiers had died, along with six air force personnel and two police officers. The updated number of deaths came shortly after the local government secretary Carlos Claros told RCN television that 33 people had died, and that efforts were being made to treat and evacuate dozens of others injured.