On Friday afternoon a military plane Hercules crashed near the El Alto airportlocated on the outskirts of La Paz, Bolivia. The aircraft lost control after landingleft the runway and collided outside the air terminal against the cars that were circulating in the area.
In a matter of seconds it became an air tragedy. Although there is no official death toll, police authorities confirmed at least 20 dead and 28 injured.
At first it seemed like they wanted to help, but when they saw National currency bills scattered everywhere, they rioted to loot the remains of the fuselage.
«The aircraft arrived from Santa Cruz and was transporting securities destined for the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB), within the framework of the tenth scheduled delivery. «After the incident, the ship fell in the vicinity outside the air terminal,» the Ministry of Defense indicated in a press release.
They also specified that the aircraft that crashed «at the time of landing», and confirmed that the Hercules plane belonged to Transportes Aéreos Bolivianos (TAB), a cargo division of the Bolivian Air Force (FAB).
The aircraft, designed for rugged missions and extreme conditions, was reduced to an unrecognizable structure with total damage. After touching down at the airport, the aircraft traveled almost a kilometer until it ended up outside the perimeter of the air terminal, and on its way it hit a total of 15 vehicles, which were also destroyed.
The video after the air tragedy in Bolivia: people running to take money
As circulated in local media and videos that went viral on social networks, many civilians approached after seeing the smoke and the burning cars.
One of the citizens recorded the entire sequence and shared it on the social network People want to raise all that money,» he is heard saying, while the images accompany his story.
A woman is seen falling and slipping in the mud while picking up bills, another running because the security agents began to repress with water hoses and then tear gas.
«Unfortunately, that’s how it is guys, they’re going to throw water because people want to take all the money,» the person recording the video in the middle of the riots expresses shock.
While the pillage of the money, the authorities tried to explain to them that the money that the plane was transporting has no legal value. «It has been issued by the BCB and has no serial number, so trying to use it is a crime,» they were told.
The fights continued and more people arrived at the site and there were even attacks against police and firefighters, which hindered rescue efforts and search for victims and injured.
Faced with this scenario, Some 600 soldiers were deployed to support the security operationwhich finally managed to contain the situation.
The burning of money after the attempted looting of the plane that crashed in Bolivia
The economic authorities then detailed that the monetization process, that is the authorization for the banknotes to have legal validity, It is only realized once the material is received and safeguarded in the organization’s vaults, something that did not happen in this case.
By instructions of the issuing entity, The military and police proceeded to burn the money that had been scattered in the area of the accident. Photos of that moment also went viral..
The Central Bank of Bolivia explained in a statement that the money transported corresponded to bills of 10, 20 and 50 bolivianospart of a contract carried out in 2025 to replace deteriorated paper money.
The president of Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz, expressed his solidarity and condolences with the families of the injured and deceased. «Today is a day of deep pain for the city of El Alto and for the Homeland,» he wrote on the social network clarification of what happened.
An accident investigation board was formed made up of experts from the Bolivian Air Force (FAB), which works to determine the causes of the accident.
An official source told the EFE agency that the plane touched down and failed to stop because the runway was icy due to a hailstorm that fell earlier in El Alto, although official information about the accident will be provided later by the Minister of Defense, Marcelo Salinas.
«It is a very complicated, very detailed investigation, in which several actors intervene,» anticipated the general commander of the FAB, Sergio Lora.
Asked about the possibility that there may have been overweight On the aircraft, the FAB commander explained that it will be one of the variables that the investigation will analyze.
«The C-130 can carry up to 18 tons. The accident investigation board is the one that will determine what happened,” he said.
