An Airplane Carrying Millions Of Newly Printed Banknotes Crashed In Bolivia

• 28.02.2026, 9:31

A Hercules military airplane rammed into 15 autos.

A military plane carrying newly printed money crashed near La Paz in Bolivia, killing at least 15 people and scattered bills causing chaos at the crash site.

According to AP.

A Lockheed C-130 Hercules military transport plane carrying newly printed Bolivian banknotes crashed Friday near Bolivia's capital, La Paz.

The tragedy occurred near the city of El Alto - the plane landed but veered off the runway during landing and crashed into several vehicles, fire officials said.

Officials said at least 15 people were killed and 30 others were injured.

Bolivian Defense Minister Marcelo Salinas said the plane belonged to the country's air force and came from the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. A fire broke out after the crash, which rescuers managed to extinguish. According to fire chief Pavel Tovar, at least 15 vehicles were damaged, but it has not yet been specified whether the dead include crew members or only people on the ground. Two of the six crew members are reported missing.

Hundreds of thousands of bills were scattered around the crash site at the time of the crash. Footage of the wreckage of the plane, destroyed autos and scattered money circulated on social media. Eyewitnesses rushed to collect banknotes, which significantly complicated the work of rescuers. Authorities brought in more than 500 military and 100 police officers to stabilize the situation.

Central Bank President David Espinoza said the scattered banknotes were "null and void" because they had not been put into circulation. Some of the cash was destroyed in the presence of bank officials. The amount of funds carried by the plane was not officially disclosed. Flights to and from El Alto airport have been temporarily suspended while the causes of the crash are investigated.