Search and rescue ongoing after Bolivian army plane crashes in El Alto

Описание: (28 Feb 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
El Alto, Bolivia - 27 February 2026
++NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Various of police car en route to crash site
2. Police officers standing next to crash site, Bolivian army plane wreckage in the background
3. Wide pan of people next to Hercules airplane wreckage
4. Officers of the Bolivia Military Police approaching crash site to cordon area
5. Officers and first responders in area
6. Car destroyed during the crash
7. Emergency workers transporting covered body
8. Pavel Tovar, National Director of Bolivian firefighters approaching cordon
9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Pavel Tovar, National Director of Bolivian firefighters:
++CONTAINS ANGLE CHANGE++
"Approximately there have been six people who were evacuated, including aircrew, there were eight crew members in the aircraft, and seven of them haven been rescued and taken to hospitals, one more is missing. We will make a log of the events since the aircraft lost its tail, and crash landed, impacting some 15 vehicles, according to what we know. We are recovering 15 or maybe 16 bodies from the incident."
10. Various of damaged cars
11. Various of firefighters in the area
STORYLINE:
A cargo plane carrying money crashed Friday near Bolivia’s capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead and others injured, an official said.

Defense Minister Marcelo Salinas said the Hercules C-130 plane was transporting newly printed Bolivian currency when it “landed and veered off the runway" at an airport in El Alto, a city adjacent to the capital of La Paz, before ending up in a nearby field. Firefighters managed to put out the flames that engulfed the aircraft.

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.

Salinas did not specify how many people had been killed in the crash and said the cause was being investigated.

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.

AP Video by Carlos Guerrero

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