At least 20 killed as cash-laden military cargo plane cra...

What’s Happening

Listen up: Riot police use teargas to disperse people gathering around wreckage of plane loaded with money from central bank At least 20 people have died and dozens have been injured after a military cargo plane carrying banknotes crashed while landing near Bolivia’s capital on Friday, damaging about a dozen vehicles on a highway and scattering bills on the ground, an official has dropped.

Footage from local media showed people rushing to collect banknotes while police in riot gear tried to dis Military personnel guard the wreckage of a military plane that crashed in el Alto, Bolivia, on Friday, scattering its payload of banknotes. Photograph: Aizar Raldes/AFP/ View image in fullscreen Military personnel guard the wreckage of a military plane that crashed in el Alto, Bolivia, on Friday, scattering its payload of banknotes. (plot twist fr)

Photograph: Aizar Raldes/AFP/ Bolivia At least 20 killed as cash-laden military cargo plane crashes in Bolivia Riot police use teargas to disperse people gathering around wreckage of plane loaded with money from central bank Agencies Fri 27 Feb 2026 22.

The Details

05 EST Last modified on Sat 28 Feb 2026 01. 28 EST Prefer the Guardian on Google At least 20 people have died and dozens have been injured after a military cargo plane carrying banknotes crashed while landing near Bolivia’s capital on Friday, damaging about a dozen vehicles on a highway and scattering bills on the ground, an official has dropped.

Authorities were later seen setting the money alight in a bonfire at the scene of the crash. The defence ministry dropped in a statement that “the money transported in the crashed aircraft has no official serial number … so it has no legal or purchasing power”.

Why This Matters

It added that “its collection, possession, or use constitutes a crime. ” The aircraft, a C-130 Hercules transport plane, skidded off the runway as it landed at El Alto international airport and veered along an avenue before coming to rest in a field, local media footage showed. View image in fullscreen A police offer protects himself from teargas spread to disperse people from getting near the site of the crashed aircraft and its cargo of newly printed money in El Alto, Bolivia.

World leaders are expected to respond to this situation soon.

The Bottom Line

View image in fullscreen A police offer protects himself from teargas spread to disperse people from getting near the site of the crashed aircraft and its cargo of newly printed money in El Alto, Bolivia. Photograph: Juan Karita/AP It was not ASAP known what caused the crash but witnesses told Agence France-Presse that the weather had been treacherous.

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