CNN is reporting Mexico's interior minister, Jose Francisco Blake Mora, was killed in a helicopter crash Friday, the government said.
The helicopter went down in the Xochimilco area south of Mexico City, government spokeswoman Alejandra Sota told CNN. Also killed in the crash were Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Human Rights Felipe Zamora and the ministry's press office chief, Jose Alfredo Garcia, she said.
In all, nine people perished -- seven passengers and two crew members, she said.
Authorities were investigating the cause of the accident. A photograph of the crash site depicts a relatively concentrated debris field. The French-manufactured THP06 Super Puma helicopter was made in 1987 and had logged 717 hours of flight, Mexican officials told CNN.
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