LA PAZ, Bolivia — A military plane carrying 18 tonnes of new banknotes damaged a dozen vehicles and scattered the bills on the ground a day earlier near Bolivia’s capital, raising the death toll to 22, a police commander said on Saturday.
Another 29 people were injured, mostly passengers traveling on public transport, in the plane crash. The dead included 12 men, including one staff member, six women and four children, police commander Mirko Sokol said.
Forensic investigators were recovering remains from the wreckage on Saturday. The injured were taken to clinics in the city of El Alto, near La Paz, where the airport is located.
The Hercules C-130 plane was carrying newly printed Bolivian currency from the eastern city of Santa Cruz, Defense Minister Marcelo Salinas said Friday, before it “went off the runway” at the airport in El Alto, near La Paz, before ending up in a nearby field. Firefighters managed to put out the fire engulfing the plane.
Images on social media showed the wreckage of the plane, cars and bodies strewn on the road. According to Fire Chief Pavel Tovar, at least 15 vehicles were damaged.
The plane belonging to the Bolivian air force was carrying cash to La Paz, and images on social media showed people rushing to collect bills scattered at the crash site, while more than 500 soldiers and 100 police officers tried to disperse them, official reports said.
To avoid further looting, police and military personnel burned cash boxes in the presence of Central Bank President David Espinoza, who said the bills had no legal value because they had never been in circulation, without clarifying.
Espinoza did not specify how much money was being transported, but he said notes had arrived in Santacruz from abroad.
(Tags to be translated)Economic Policy(T)Airport Security(T)General News(T)Airline Accidents(T)World News(T)Article(T)130634757
