Cargo plane full of money crashes on highway with new banknotes | News World

A cargo plane carrying a wad of cash crashed moments after landing – sparking chaos as people flocked to the scene to try to stuff their pockets with scattered banknotes.

The C-130 Hercules plane was transporting freshly printed Bolivian currency from the country’s central bank when it ‘landed on and off the runway’ at an airport near the capital La Paz.

Police said the death toll had now risen to 20, while more than a dozen others were injured.

Footage posted on social media showed bodies among debris strewn across the highway where the plane finally came to rest.

However, the incident also shows a number of people rushing there to collect the money that was steaming when the accident occurred.

Some clips showed authorities firing water and tear gas to ward off gangs of scavengers.

More than 500 soldiers and 100 police officers were recruited, according to official reports.

Police and military personnel burned the cash boxes in the presence of Central Bank President David Espinoza, who said the notes had ‘no legal value because they were never circulated’, without explaining what he meant.

Espinoza did not specify the amount of money being transported but he said the notes arrived in Santa Cruz from abroad.

El Alto International Airport was temporarily closed following the crash, national airline Boliviana de Aviacion said in a statement, adding that the plane involved in the crash did not belong to its fleet.

Video broadcast on local media showed the plane was badly damaged, as were a number of vehicles along the road where the crash occurred.

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