15 Dead in a Latin American Plane Crash while Carrying Banknotes

At least 15 people died, six were injured and 15 vehicles were damaged in the accident that occurred this Friday involving a military cargo plane attempting to land at the international airport of El Alto, the second most populated city in Bolivia, the National Fire Department reported.  The national director of the Fire Department, Colonel Pavel Tovar, told the private channel Unitel that there are “about 15 vehicles affected”, about “15 people dead” and at least “six injured who have been evacuated to different health centers” after the accident that occurred near El Alto. 

An official source told Newsroom Panama that the plane, a Hercules of the Bolivian Air Force (FAB), touched down and was unable to brake, presumably because the runway was icy due to a hailstorm that fell earlier in El Alto, so it ended up outside the airport perimeter, with the damage mentioned by Tovar.  People at the scene reported in videos shared on social media that banknotes that were being transported on the plane were scattered around the site, while local media indicated that it was money from the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB). 

Several people tried to approach the site to collect the banknotes, at which point the firefighters first had to spray them with water and then, when the police arrived, tear gas had to be used to disperse the people.  Military personnel were also deployed to support the police in securing the area.  Tovar reported that firefighters were attacked by people trying to enter the accident site and asked the residents of El Alto not to do so, as “there are no valuables to be found” there.  The state airline Boliviana de Aviación (BoA) reported in a statement that the El Alto airport, which serves La Paz, “is temporarily closed by order of the airport authority due to an incident involving an aircraft on the runway” that does not belong to that company.