Mexico helicopter crash kills Interior Secretary Blake Mora
Mexico’s Secretary of the Interior, Francisco Blake Mora, has died in a helicopter crash outside Mexico City.
The helicopter was flying to Cuernavaca in neighbouring Morelos state for a prosecutors’ meeting when it went down.
All eight people on board were killed. President Felipe Calderon said weather conditions were probably to blame.
Mr Blake Mora, 45, was appointed to the post last year and was a key figure in the war against drug cartels.
The helicopter had initially been reported missing. Some Mexican media reports said there was heavy cloud at the time.
Francisco Blake Mora was one of the president’s right-hand men. Not only because he was in charge of domestic affairs, but also because he became one of the most strident voices of Mr Calderon’s strategy against the drug cartels.
In recent months, he helped coordinate the army, navy and federal police in the fight against drug trafficking in violence-torn cities like Veracruz or Acapulco.
But his death could be a severe blow to Mr Calderon at a personal level too. Three years ago, one of the president’s best friends, then Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino, was killed in a plane crash in Mexico City.
That accident was one of the saddest moments for Mr Calderon since he took power in 2006, he said. Mr Camilo Mourino was remembered by members of the cabinet, including Mr Blake Mora, this week. His last message on his Twitter account (@FBlakeM) was actually dedicated to Mr Mourino.
“Unfortunately the interior secretary, his [assistants] and the helicopter crew were found dead,” government spokeswoman Alejandra Sota said.
Deputy Interior Secretary Felipe Zamora and the interior ministry’s chief press officer Alfredo Garcia were also reported to be on the helicopter.
Mexican television showed wreckage from the helicopter strewn across a hillside.