Command Palette

Search for a command to run...

Browse

Bolivian Air Force C-130 Crash Kills 20 in El Alto, Sparks Looting and Protests

Bolivian Air Force C-130 Crash Kills 20 in El Alto, Sparks Looting and Protests
View gallery

At least 20 people were killed and around 30 injured when a Bolivian Air Force C‑130 Hercules carrying newly printed banknotes crashed during a storm in the highland city of El Alto on Friday evening, scattering cash across a busy road and sparking chaos, looting and protests bbc +1. The aircraft, which had flown from Santa Cruz to supply the Central Bank in La Paz, skidded off the runway at El Alto International Airport at about 18:15 local time before ploughing through traffic and coming to rest in a nearby field bbc +1.

Authorities temporarily closed the high-altitude airport and cordoned off the area as rescuers pulled victims from mangled vehicles and wreckage. Officials said the cargo consisted of unissued banknotes without serial numbers, insisting the money had “no legal or purchasing power” and warning that anyone trying to use it could face criminal charges bbc +1.

How a Routine Cash Flight Turned into a Mass-Casualty Crash

Witnesses described severe hail, lightning and poor visibility as the Hercules attempted to land at El Alto, one of the world’s highest international airports, when it veered off the runway and slammed into a line of vehicles on an adjacent avenue bbc +2. Police and health officials reported the death toll climbing from an initial 15 to around 20, with more than 30 people injured, including motorists, bystanders and members of the crew aljazeera +1.

Emergency workers struggled to reach victims as hundreds of residents converged on the site, some trying to grab banknotes strewn across the road. Vice Interior Minister Hernán Paredes said roughly 3,000 people descended on the scene “with a tremendously aggressive attitude wielding sticks and stones,” forcing security forces to use water hoses and tear gas to push crowds back cnn. At least 49 people were later arrested for looting and vandalism, and press groups reported journalists were attacked while covering the disaster cnn +1. Investigators have opened a formal probe and are searching for the aircraft’s flight recorders, with bad weather cited as a possible factor but no official cause yet named aljazeera +1.

Anger Over Burned Banknotes and Demands for Accountability

As soldiers and police collected cash from the crash zone on Saturday, authorities said roughly 18 tonnes of banknotes recovered from the area were burned, arguing destruction was necessary because the notes were unissued and vulnerable to misuse cnn. The images of flames consuming stacks of money in El Alto — a predominantly poor, working-class city that has long been a focal point for protest — ignited fury among residents, some of whom accused the government of wasting resources while families struggle with rising living costs and cuts to fuel subsidies cnn.

“We truly detest the government’s and the armed forces’ lack of safety measures,” said César Mamani, a relative of one of the victims, echoing calls for a full investigation and accountability for those who authorized the flight in such conditions cnn. Critics questioned why a military cargo plane was used to transport such a large shipment of cash into a storm, and why better safeguards were not in place to protect nearby traffic at the high-risk airport. Defence officials maintained the cargo’s status as unissued notes meant there was no immediate threat to the money supply, but acknowledged the Central Bank would have to replace the destroyed shipment theguardian +1.

The Bigger Picture

The crash in El Alto combined three volatile elements — a deadly aviation disaster, visible piles of money in a city marked by poverty, and a forceful security response — turning a routine logistical operation into a test of trust in Bolivia’s institutions. As investigators examine weather data, maintenance records and decision-making around the flight, the government also faces a broader reckoning over economic hardship and inequality that residents linked to the sight of banknotes burning in the streets aljazeera +1. How transparently authorities handle both the crash probe and the financial fallout will shape whether this tragedy remains an isolated accident or becomes a catalyst for deeper political unrest.