A military plane has crashed on to a busy road in the city of El Alto, near Bolivia’s capital La Paz, killing at least 15 people and injuring at least 30 others, officials have said.
The Bolivian Air Force Hercules C-130 aircraft was transporting new banknotes from the city of Santa Cruz to the country’s interior when it “landed and veered off the runway”, and on to a highway, before ending up in a nearby field, defence minister Marcelo Salinas said.
It is unclear if the dead victims were on board the plane or were in cars when the aircraft crashed.
The Bolivian Air Force said that two of the plane’s six crew members had not been located as of late Friday.
Video broadcast on local media showed the aircraft was severely damaged, as were at least 15 vehicles along the road where the crash took place.
Reuters reports that social media footage showed chaotic scenes of people appearing to pick up money that lay strewn on the ground following the crash.
Hundreds of people trying to collect the spilled bills were hindering rescue efforts, according to a local fire chief.
More than 500 soldiers and 100 police officers worked to disperse the mob, including using water hoses to ward people off.
Bolivian Central Bank president David Espinoza says the bills “have no legal value because they never entered circulation”.
He did not specify how much money was being transported, but said the banknotes had arrived from abroad.
Police and military personnel burned the remaining cash after the country’s defence ministry warned that collecting or using the new banknotes would constitute a crime.
Authorities temporarily suspended all flights to and from the terminal, but they have since resumed.
The cause of the crash is being investigated.
At least 15 killed after military plane crashes on to busy road in Bolivia
