- Fire chief Pavel Tovar said at least 15 people died but he did not clarify if the dead were in the plane or in the cars on the nearby highway
At least 20 people were killed when a Bolivian military cargo plane carrying banknotes crashed while landing near the capital La Paz, police said Friday.
The aircraft, a C-130 Hercules transport plane, veered off the runway at El Alto International Airport and crashed into an avenue, crushing at least one car and damaging trucks, local media footage showed.
“There are about 20, maybe a few more,” Col. Rene Tambo, head of the police homicide division in El Alto, told reporters late Friday. Firefighters had given an earlier toll of at least 15 dead.
Bolivian Air Force Gen. Sergio Lora said two of the plane’s six crew members had not been found as of late Friday, adding that the aircraft was arriving from the eastern city of Santa Cruz.
Images on social media showed debris from the aircraft, destroyed cars and bodies scattered on the road. According to Tovar, at least 15 vehicles were damaged.
The plane, belonging to the Bolivian air force, was transporting money to La Paz and images on social media showed people rushing to collect the bills scattered at the crash site, while police in riot gear tried to disperse them.
Tovar said the hundreds of people trying to collect the spilled bills were hindering rescue efforts.
More than 500 soldiers and 100 police officers took control of the area to disperse the mob, according to official reports. Police and military personnel burned the cash boxes in the presence of Central Bank President David Espinoza, who said the bills “have no legal value because they never entered circulation,” without clarifying what that meant.
Espinoza did not specify the amount of money being transported but he said the banknotes had arrived in Santa Cruz from abroad.
Authorities temporarily suspended all flights to and from the terminal.
AFP/AP
