Mexican interior minister in helicopter crash

[Bosonic]

Source: Reuters

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A helicopter carrying Mexican Interior Minister Francisco Blake crashed in the south of Mexico City on Friday, Mexican media said.

Blake, 45, was traveling between Mexico City and the state of Morelos just to the south, his ministry said.

It was not clear whether the minister had survived the crash or what caused it.

Read more: http://www.wtvr.com/sns-rt-us-mexico-ministertre7aa4x9-20111111,0,286312.story

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Mexico: Helicopter carrying top official lost

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- The Mexican government said Friday that the country's top Cabinet secretary, Francisco Blake Mora, has died in a helicopter crash with seven others, including the pilot.

Presidential spokeswoman Alejandra Sota said that Interior Secretary Blake Mora was traveling to a prosecutors meeting in the neighboring state of Morelos when the helicopter went down in southern Mexico City.

The secretary of the interior is the country's top official after the president, overseeing internal political affairs and security.

Francisco Blake Mora was appointed secretary in July 2010. President Felipe Calderon lost another interior secretary, Juan Camilo Mourino, in a plane crash in Mexico City in November 2008.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_MEXICO_BLAKE_MORA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-11-11-13-38-31

[Eugene]

1. Reuters: Mexican interior minister killed in helicopter crash

Source: Reuters

Mexican interior minister killed in helicopter crash

(Reuters) - Mexican Interior Minister Francisco Blake was killed in a helicopter crash on Friday, a blow to the government as it fights powerful drug cartels.

Television images showed the scattered wreckage of the helicopter on a hillside south of the capital, and the government confirmed that Blake and all others on board were killed. It did not say what caused the crash.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/11/us-mexico-minister-idUSTRE7AA4X920111111

[russspeakeasy]

2. I haven't been to Mexico in 8-10 years.. I doubt I will go again.

[harvey007]

3. Ny Times report

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/12/world/americas/top-mexican-official-among-8-dead-in-helicopter-crash.html

[bemildred]

4. US Investigators Join Mexico Chopper Crash Probe

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has sent a team of investigators to Mexico to probe the helicopter crash that killed the country's No. 2 official.

The board says it has also sent representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate Friday's crash in a rural area south of Mexico City. The crash killed Interior Minister Francisco Blake Mora and seven others.

The safety board said in a news release Sunday that Mexico requested help. The agents arrived Saturday.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-investigators-join-mexico-chopper-crash-probe-14943349