Sixty-six people have died after a Colombian Air Force transport plane slammed into dense jungle shortly after takeoff near the Peruvian border.
The Hercules aircraft came down on Monday morning in Puerto Leguízamo, a remote town in Colombia’s southern Putumayo province.
It carried 128 soldiers, crew and police officers bound for another military base.
Rescue teams raced to the site through thick rainforest as flames and black smoke rose from the wreckage.
Officials say 58 others suffered injuries while four remain missing.
The head of Colombia’s armed forces, General Hugo Alejandro López Barreto, confirmed the grim toll in a statement on Tuesday.
“Sadly, as a consequence of this tragic accident, 66 of our military elements died,” he said.
He added that authorities have found no sign it was an attack by terrorists.
Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez described the crash as “profoundly painful for the country” and quickly dispatched rescue crews.
Local residents joined soldiers to reach the burning debris, where exploding ammunition complicated efforts to pull survivors clear.
President Gustavo Petro took to social media as the death count rose.
He first voiced hope that casualties would stay low, then used the tragedy to renew his push for better equipment.
“If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to the challenge, they must be removed,” he declared, pointing to what he called long-standing bureaucratic blocks on modernising the fleet.
The plane, an older model donated by the United States, had only just lifted off from Caucayá Airport when it lost height and plunged into the trees.
Investigators now sift through the scattered wreckage to establish exactly why the aircraft failed so soon after leaving the runway.
Meanwhile, survivors have been flown to hospitals in nearby towns and the capital.
Families across Colombia wait anxiously for news of loved ones, while the nation mourns one of the deadliest military air accidents in recent memory.
