THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT has confirmed that one of its top security officials was killed in a helicopter crash this morning.
The Los Angeles Times reports that a government spokeswoman said authorities located the aircraft outside Mexico City and that Interior Minister Francisco Blake Mora was among the dead.
The 45-year-old was one of eight people killed in the crash.
Mora was the face of the Government in the ongoing war on drug traffickers.
When the crash occurred this morning he was on his way to meet judicial officials in Cuernavaca in Morelos, reports the BBC. He frequently travelled to cities torn apart by violence to meet with local authorities.
He had pledged on many occasions to continue to fight against traffickers, despite the bloodiness of the war.
As Interior Minister, Mora also oversaw the country’s response to natural disasters.
It is still unclear what caused today’s crash. One of Mora’s predecessors, Jose Camilo Mourino, died in a plane crash three years ago. Although it remains unproven, some Mexicans believe the crash was plotted by drug cartels.
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