Fifteen people were killed after a cargo plane crashed in El Alto, Bolivia, on Friday, Feb. 27.
The Bolivian air force plane, a Hercules C-130, was carrying newly printed Bolivian currency to La Paz when it veered off the runway at the El Alto international airport, Defense Minister Marcelo Salinas said, the Associated Press reported.
The aircraft crashed on a nearby highway before landing in a field. The plane burst into flames and left debris in its path, destroying at least 15 cars across the highway, per the AP.
While firefighters were able to put out the blaze, 15 people were pronounced deceased, Fire Chief Pavel Tovar said, according to the outlet. It’s unclear if the victims were on the plane or the highway at the time of the accident.
The identities of the victims have not been revealed, and officials have not yet shared whether any of the plane’s six crew members were killed.
Two of the crew members have still not been located, The Guardian reported.
The rescue efforts were hindered by people trying to collect the bills strewn across the highway, Fire Chief Pavel Tovar said, per AP.
As a result, over 500 soldiers and 100 police officers were at the scene trying to control the crowd.
Central Bank President David Espinoza said the dropped bills have “no legal value because they never entered circulation,” The Washington Post reported. The police and soldiers burned the cash boxes in Espinoza’s presence, per the outlet.
All the flights to and from the terminal were temporarily suspended, and the cause of the crash is under investigation, the AP reported.
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