More than 60 members of Colombia’s armed forces were killed when a military aircraft crashed shortly after take-off in the south of the country early on Monday, authorities said.

Previously, one person was confirmed dead and 77 others rescued after a military transport plane carrying 125 people crashed in Colombia on Monday.

Colombian chief of defence Hugo Alejandro López Barreto said that “sadly, as a consequence of this tragic accident, 66 of our armed forces members died”.

The defence chief also said that 128 people had been on board: 11 members of the Colombian Aerospace Force, 115 members of the army and two members of the national police force.

Initially, authorities said 125 were on board.

The C-130 Hercules plane was travelling from Puerto Leguízamo to Puerto Asís, in the Putumayo Department, near the border with Peru, when it crashed shortly after takeoff.

The cause of the accident remains unclear.

Videos showing clouds of grey smoke and wreckage have been published on social media.

(dpa/NAN)