Bolivian Military Plane Crashes, Killing 15 and Scattering Currency

A Bolivian Air Force C-130 Hercules cargo plane crashed shortly after takeoff from El Alto International Airport on Friday, killing at least 15 people and injuring about 30 others while scattering new banknotes across a busy highway in the city of El Alto, adjacent to La Paz.

The aircraft, which was transporting freshly printed currency from the Central Bank to other parts of the country, skidded off the runway amid reports of adverse weather conditions and struck at least a dozen vehicles on a nearby avenue before coming to rest in an adjacent field. Fire Chief Pavel Tovar, who oversaw the initial response, confirmed the death toll but did not specify whether the fatalities occurred aboard the plane or among drivers and passengers in the impacted vehicles. "There were people injured," Tovar said, as emergency crews worked to extinguish flames engulfing the wreckage. Debris, damaged cars, and bodies littered the roadway, according to images shared widely on social media.

Firefighters and police arrived quickly to the scene, where the crash caused extensive damage to vehicles and disrupted traffic in the densely populated area. Local authorities reported that the plane's cargo of...