A military helicopter carrying officials surveying earthquake damage crashed in southeastern Mexico on Friday night, killing two people on the ground, the interior ministry said.
The 7.2-magnitude earthquake and a magnitude 5.8 aftershock — both with epicenters in Oaxaca state — struck the region Friday, the US Geological Survey reported.
Mexico’s Interior Minister, Alfonso Navarrete Prida, and Oaxaca’s governor, Alejandro Murat, were flying near the epicenters to evaluate the damage when the helicopter crashed. Both men survived and only suffered “slight concussions,” the Interior Ministry tweeted.
“We continue to evaluate the severity of those injured,” the statement added.
Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto said the crash took place while the helicopter was landing.
“Unfortunately, people on the ground lost their lives and others were wounded. My condolences to their families and my wishes for a prompt recovery to those injured,” the President tweeted.
Details about those killed were not available.
When addressing the helicopter crash on Twitter, Peña Nieto said there were no reports of fatalities directly linked to the quake and aftershocks.
Efrain de la Cruz, mayor of Santiago Jamiltepec, Oaxaca, was on the phone with CNN en Español’s Mario González when the crash occurred.
“A helicopter carrying the governor and the others went down,” he said.
“A helicopter is down, a helicopter is down. Oh my God! It’s a military helicopter,” Cruz added. “This can’t be possible, oh my God.”
