Colombia’s 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.