15 killed as cash-laden military plane crashes near La Paz
At least 15 people were killed on Friday after a cargo aircraft transporting newly printed currency crashed near Bolivia’s capital, La Paz, authorities confirmed.
Bolivia’s Defence Minister, Marcelo Salinas, said the Hercules C-130 aircraft was carrying freshly printed Bolivian banknotes when it “landed and veered off the runway” at an airport in El Alto, a city adjacent to La Paz. The plane skidded into a nearby field, damaging vehicles on a major highway and scattering cash across the area. Firefighters later extinguished the blaze that engulfed the aircraft.
Fire chief Pavel Tovar said at least 15 people had died, though he did not clarify whether the victims were passengers or motorists on the highway. Salinas said investigations were ongoing and did not give a confirmed casualty breakdown.
Bolivian Air Force General Sergio Lora disclosed that two of the plane’s six crew members were still missing late on Friday. He added that the aircraft had been arriving from the eastern city of Santa Cruz.
Social media footage showed wreckage, destroyed vehicles and bodies scattered across the road, with at least 15 vehicles reportedly damaged. The aircraft, owned by the Bolivian Air Force, was on a mission to deliver cash to La Paz.
As banknotes littered the crash site, crowds rushed in to collect the money, forcing police in riot gear to intervene. Tovar said rescue operations were severely disrupted by hundreds of people attempting to gather the spilled cash.
More than 500 soldiers and 100 police officers were deployed to secure the area. Authorities later burned the cash boxes in the presence of Central Bank of Bolivia President David Espinoza, who said the notes had “no legal value because they never entered circulation.” He confirmed the banknotes had arrived in Santa Cruz from abroad but did not disclose the total amount being transported.
Flights to and from the El Alto terminal were temporarily suspended as emergency services and investigators worked at the scene.
