Bolivian military plane crash kills 15, scatters cash

At least 15 people were killed and 30 injured on Friday evening when a Bolivian Air Force Hercules aircraft carrying newly printed banknotes from the country’s central bank crashed. The ill-fated plane  crashed onto a busy avenue amid inclement weather in the city of El Alto, near Bolivia's capital La Paz. The military aircraft had departed from the city of Santa Cruz and crashed after landing and skidding off the runway onto a neighboring avenue, according to local authorities. The Bolivian Air Force said that two of the plane's six crew members had not been located as of late Friday. The El Alto International Airport was temporarily closed following the crash, national airline Boliviana de Aviacion said in a statement, adding the aircraft involved in the accident did not belong to its fleet.

BREAKING| Bolivia Tragedy

At least 15 people have died after a Bolivian military cargo plane carrying banknotes crashed while attempting to land near La Paz.

In the chaotic aftermath, police had to push back crowds as cash was scattered across the crash site. pic.twitter.com/UmmuBnTgGc

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According to reports, chaotic scenes of ​people appearing ⁠to pick up money that lay strewn on the ground following ‌the crash. Hundreds of people trying to collect the spilled bills were hindering rescue efforts, according to a local fire chief. Bolivian Central Bank president David Espinoza says the bills "have no legal value because they never entered circulation". Police and military personnel burned the remaining cash after the country's defence ministry warned that collecting or using the new banknotes would constitute a crime.