More than a dozen killed when military cargo plane carrying money crashes in Bolivia, local official says

A Bolivian military cargo plane carrying money crashed Friday near Bolivia’s capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on a highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead, an official said.

Pavel Tovar, a local fire chief, did not clarify whether the dead were in the plane or in the cars on the highway near the airport in La Paz. He said there were people injured.

The aircraft struck vehicles in the city of El Alto, which is adjacent to La Paz, before coming to rest in a field, according to images circulating on social media. There were conflicting reports of whether the plane was taking off or landing when it crashed.

Debris from the aircraft destroyed cars, and bodies littered the road. According to Tovar, at least 15 vehicles were involved. Firefighters managed to extinguish the flames engulfing the aircraft.

The plane, a Hercules aircraft belonging to the Bolivian air force, was transporting new banknotes from the Central Bank to other cities and a large number of bills scattered on the ground at the crash site.

Images circulating on social media showed people rushing to collect the bills while police in riot gear tried to disperse them

Authorities temporarily suspended all flights to and from the terminal.