* Sources say 57 rescued, media reports 110 on board

* Military must be modernized, president says

* Colombia first adopted C-130s in the 1960s

* Lockheed model involved in recent Bolivia crash

(Adds details from sources, footage)

BOGOTA, March 23 (Reuters) - Colombia's defense ministry

said on Monday a Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130 plane

crashed on take-off in the south of the country, with local

outlet BluRadio reporting 110 soldiers were traveling on board.

Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said the accident happened as

the plane was taking off from Puerto Leguizamo, deep in

Colombia's southern Amazon region on the border with Peru, as it

transported troops.

"The exact number of victims and the causes of the crash

have not yet been determined," he said.

Two military sources told Reuters 57 people had been

evacuated alive from the wreckage.

BluRadio cited authorities as saying 110 soldiers were on board,

and the crash took place just 3 km (2 miles) from an urban

center. Footage it shared from the scene showed thick plumes of

smoke rising from the wreckage.

U.S. defense company Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) did not immediately

respond to a request for comment.

"I hope there are no fatalities in this horrific accident

that should never have happened," President Gustavo Petro said

in a post on X, in which he criticized bureaucratic obstacles

for delaying his plans to modernize the military.

"I will grant no further delays; it is the lives of our

young people that are at stake," he said. "If civilian or

military administrative officials are not up to this challenge,

they must be removed."

Hercules C-130 planes were first launched in the 1950s and

Colombia acquired its first models in the late 1960s. It has

more recently modernized some older C-130s with newer models

sent from the U.S. under a law that allows for the transfer of

used or surplus military equipment.

Details of the plane involved in the accident were not

immediately available.

At the end of February, another Hercules C-130 belonging to

the Bolivian Air Force crashed in the populous city of El Alto,

barely missing a residential block.

More than 20 people died and another 30 were injured, and

banknotes from the plane's cargo scattered around the city,

prompting clashes between residents and security forces.