A military cargo plane transporting bundles of newly printed cash erupted into disaster moments after touching down in Bolivia, triggering scenes of chaos as crowds rushed toward the wreckage to grab loose banknotes scattered across the crash site.

 

 

The Hercules C-130 aircraft had been carrying freshly minted Bolivian currency on behalf of the country’s central bank when it reportedly “landed and veered off the runway” at El Alto International Airport near the capital, La Paz. The aircraft overshot the runway and ploughed into a nearby highway before coming to a halt in a mangled heap of metal and debris.

 

 

Authorities confirmed that the death toll has climbed to 20, with more than a dozen others injured in the crash.

 

 

Disturbing footage circulating on social media shows bodies lying among twisted wreckage strewn across the roadway. But alongside the devastation, videos also captured large numbers of people swarming the crash scene in an attempt to collect banknotes that had burst from the aircraft during the impact.

 

 

In several clips, security forces can be seen deploying water jets and tear gas in an effort to disperse the growing crowd of scavengers. According to official reports, more than 500 soldiers and 100 police officers were mobilised to secure the area and restore order.

 

 

Emergency responders, members of the military and forensic teams worked through the wreckage as authorities attempted to contain both the crash site and the disorder unfolding around it. Images from the scene show the Bolivian Air Force Lockheed C-130 (FAB-81) heavily damaged, with surrounding vehicles along the avenue also destroyed by the force of the impact.

 

 

 

 

 

Police and military officials later burned the cash boxes in the presence of Central Bank President David Espinoza. He stated that the bills “have no legal value because they never entered circulation,” though he did not elaborate further on the explanation.

 

 

Espinoza declined to disclose the total amount of money being transported but confirmed that the banknotes had arrived in Santa Cruz from abroad before being flown onward.

 

 

Following the crash, El Alto International Airport was temporarily shut down. National airline Boliviana de Aviacion said in a statement that the aircraft involved did not belong to its fleet.

 

 

Television footage broadcast locally showed the scale of destruction, with the aircraft severely torn apart and multiple vehicles crushed along the roadway where the plane ultimately came to rest.