A Bolivian Air Force Hercules aircraft carrying new banknotes has crashed onto a busy avenue, leaving 20 people dead, local police have said.
The plane veered off the runway at El Alto International Airport, near Bolivia’s capital La Paz, crushing at least one car and damaging trucks.
Police spokesperson Colonel Rene Tambo said at least 20 people had died.
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The military aircraft had earlier departed from the city of Santa Cruz and crashed after landing and skidding off the runway at El Alto onto a neighbouring avenue, according to local authorities.
Mangled parts of the aircraft were seen on the road where the plane came down, as bystanders rushed to try and grab the scattered cash and police tried to repel the crowds with tear gas.
Authorities later set the money alight in a bonfire at the scene of the crash.
It was not immediately known what caused the crash but witnesses said the weather at the time was treacherous.
“A heavy hailstorm” was falling and “there was lightning” when the plane went down, Cristina Choque, a 60-year-old vendor whose car was struck by the aircraft wreckage, told AFP.
“The tyre is what fell on top of us … my daughter is injured, she has a head wound,” she said.
The Ministry of Defense said it would launch an investigation into the crash.
Fire Chief Pavel Tovar did not clarify if the dead were in the plane or in the damaged cars on the highway near the city’s airport.
“We are recovering the bodies of these people who have sadly suffered in the accident,” he said.
Bolivia’s health ministry reported at least 28 people were injured.
At least 15 people are dead after a cargo plane crashed in Boliva, in the city of El Alto. (AP: Juan Karita)
Money grab ‘a crime’
Fatalities were recorded both at the airport and on the busy avenue where the plane crashed and struck several vehicles.
The Bolivian Air Navigation and Airports authority NAABOL said in a statement that the C-130 departed from the eastern city of Santa Cruz and crashed while landing at the international airport, which suspended its operations.
The C-130 Hercules — manufactured by Lockheed Martin — was carrying Bolivian banknotes, which scattered upon impact.
Footage from local media showed police using tear gas to disperse people who approached the crash site to gather the money.
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The defence ministry said in a statement said that “the money transported in the crashed aircraft has no official serial number … therefore it has no legal or purchasing power”.
“Its collection, possession, or use constitutes a crime,” the statement said.
Ms Choque and her family remained inside the wrecked vehicle for fear of being looted by the crowd.
The La Paz Prosecutor’s Office received reports of looting of businesses by criminals who took advantage of the chaos in the streets.
Twelve people have been arrested for questioning, prosecutor Luis Carlos Torres said.
Operations at El Alto International Airport, the second most important in Bolivia, were suspended.
Hospitals in El Alto also launched a blood donation campaign to treat the injured.
La Paz, at an altitude of 3,650 metres and surrounded by Andean peaks, is the highest administrative capital in the world.Â
Reuters/AFP