Thirteen people died and 15 others were injured in the crash of an air force helicopter carrying Mexico's interior secretary and the governor of the southern state of Oaxaca, officials said Saturday.

The helicopter crashed Friday night while it was approaching Jamiltepec, a town in Oaxaca.</s>MEXICO CITY — A military helicopter carrying officials assessing damage from a powerful earthquake crashed Friday in southern Mexico, killing 13 people and injuring 15, all of them on the ground.

The Oaxaca state prosecutor's office said in a statement that five women, four men and three children were killed at the crash site and another person died later at the hospital.

A state government official who was not authorized to be quoted by name said the chopper crashed into a group of people who had been spending the night in an open field after a powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the area. Aftershocks had caused people to flee their homes for fear they would collapse.

The Defense Department said the Blackhawk helicopter suffered the mishap when it was preparing to land on a vacant lot in the city of Jamiltepec, about 19 miles from the area of Pinotepa Nacional. The craft was carrying Interior Secretary Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca Gov. Alejandro Murat, neither of whom had serious injuries.

The accident was the latest embarrassment in Navarrete's short term at the Interior Department, which oversees most political and security issues. Earlier this month, an intelligence agent from an agency overseen by Navarrete's department was caught tailing an opposition presidential candidate.

Both Navarrete and the defense department said they regretted the loss of life in Friday's accident.

Jorge Morales, a local reporter who was aboard the helicopter when it crashed, described harrowing moments as the pilot lost control and the helicopter attempted to land in a swirl of dust.

"The moment the helicopter touched down it lost control, it slid-- like it skidded-- and it hit some vehicles that were stationed in the area," he told a Mexican television news program. "In that moment, you couldn't see anything, nothing else was heard beside the sound that iron makes when it scrapes the earth."

Navarrete and Murat were evaluating reports of damage from an earthquake that struck earlier Friday when their helicopter crashed.

The U.S. Geological Survey originally put the magnitude of Friday's quake at 7.5 but later lowered it to 7.2. It said the epicenter was 33 miles (53 kilometers) northeast of Pinotepa in southern Oaxaca state and had a depth of 15 miles (24 kilometers).

President Enrique Pena Nieto said via Twitter that both officials and crew were fine, although the interior department said that they had light injuries.</s>A military helicopter carrying officials assessing damage from a powerful earthquake has crashed in southern Mexico, killing 13 people and injuring 15, all of them on the ground.

The Oaxaca state prosecutor’s office said the chopper crashed into a group of people who had been spending the night outside after a powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the area.

Five women, four men and three children were killed at the crash site and another person died later in hospital.

The Defence Department said the victims had been waiting for the helicopter, but did not provide more details.

The military helicopter apparently flipped and fell on top of the group of people as it attempted to land.

Mexico’s Interior Department said that the helicopter was carrying Secretary Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca state Governor Alejandro Murat, who were evaluating reports of damage from the earthquake.

Mr Navarrete told local media that “as the army helicopter we were travelling in tried to land, the pilot lost control, the helicopter fell and flipped”.

Jorge Rosales, a local reporter who was aboard the helicopter when it crashed, described harrowing moments as the pilot lost control and the helicopter attempted to land in a swirl of dust.

“The moment the helicopter touched down it lost control, it slid – like it skidded – and it hit some vehicles that were stationed in the area,” he said.

“In that moment, you couldn’t see anything, nothing else was heard beside the sound that iron makes when it scrapes the earth.”

The helicopter was attempting to land on a vacant piece of ground in the city of Jamiltepec, about 19 miles from the area of Pinotepa Nacional, the Mexican army said.

The US Geological Survey originally put the magnitude of Friday’s quake at 7.5 but later lowered it to 7.2. It said the epicentre was 33 miles north-east of Pinotepa in southern Oaxaca state, and had a depth of 15 miles.

President Enrique Pena Nieto said via Twitter that both officials and crew were unhurt, although the interior department said that they had light injuries.</s>Officials from the Mexican government and the state of Oaxaca were traveling to Pinotepa Nacional, the epicenter of the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that rocked Mexico City and six other states, when their helicopter went down Friday.

The Interior Secretary, Alfonso Navarrete Prida, and the Governor of Oaxaca, Alejandro Murat were onboard the military aircraft in addition to various officials from both administrations. Navarrete Prida and Murat survived the crash and only suffered "slight concussions," according to a tweet by the Interior Ministry.

Navarrete Prida told media that they were able to get out of the helicopter on their own two feet, despite the fact that there were fatalities and people wounded in the accident.

"There are people who have died, a public servant is fine, the governor of the State, the General of the area, Unfortunately, I understand that there are people who have lost their lives, and medical and rescue teams have already arrived," he said at the time.

"We were accompanied by military personnel, personnel from the State Government and Civil Protection, and there was also some Secretary of the Interior staff."

Through its Twitter account, the Interior Ministry reported that two of the people waiting for the arrival of that delegation that would supervise the situation in the area after the earthquake were killed.

Journalists traveling in the helicopter say that at least three bodies were lying in the field that was enabled as a landing area.

Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto said the crash took place while the helicopter was landing.

Details about those killed were not available.</s>A military helicopter carrying Mexico's interior secretary and a state governor who were assessing damage from a powerful earthquake has crashed in the southern state of Oaxaca, killing 13 people and injuring 15 others.

Mexico's Interior Department says Secretary Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca state Gov. Alejandro Murat were evaluating reports of damage from Friday's quake when their helicopter crashed near the city of Pinotepa Nacional.

President Enrique Pena Nieto said via Twitter that both officials and crew were fine, but some people on the ground had been killed or injured. The Interior Department put the death toll at two.

A magnitude-7.2 earthquake shook south and central Mexico on Friday, causing people to flee swaying buildings and office towers in the country's capital. There were no reports of severe damage.</s>The death toll from a helicopter crash that followed a strong earthquake in southern Mexico rose to 14 Sunday, as the defense minister said the government assumed full responsibility.

The tragedy struck Friday night as a military helicopter flew the interior minister and other officials to an area near the epicenter of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that shook Mexico earlier that evening.

Officials say a dust cloud caused the pilot to lose control, keel over and crash into an open field where local residents had set up camp for the night because they feared aftershocks could cause their homes to collapse.

Authorities said 14 people were killed in all -- up from an earlier toll of 13 -- including a six-month-old baby and a 10-year-old girl.

All victims in the accident were on the ground.

Inside the helicopter, Interior Minister Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca state Governor Alejandro Murat were unharmed.

Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos traveled to the southern town of Santiago Jamiltepec, where the accident struck, to meet with families of the victims.

"I want to convey our condolences, on behalf of all Mexican soldiers," he said.

"The defense ministry completely assumes its responsibility for what happened."

The earthquake caused relatively minor damage. Ironically, the only deaths were the people killed in the helicopter crash.

Another 15 people were injured in the accident.

The quake was powerful but struck at a relatively deep 24.7 kilometers, according to the US Geological Survey.

Still, it caused panic across a broad swathe of southern and central Mexico, where the memory is still fresh of two earthquakes last September that killed a combined 465 people.

Mexico sits at a spot where five tectonic plates come together, making it particularly vulnerable to earthquakes.</s>A military helicopter carrying officials assessing damage from a powerful earthquake near Pinotepa Nacional in southern Mexico crashed Friday, killing 13 people and injuring 15, all of them on the ground.

The Oaxaca state prosecutor's office said in a statement that five women, four men and three children were killed at the crash site and another person died later at the hospital.

A state government official who was not authorized to be quoted by name said the chopper crashed into a group of people who had been spending the night in an open field after a powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the area. Aftershocks had caused people to flee their homes for fear they would collapse.

The Defense Department said the Blackhawk helicopter suffered the mishap when it was preparing to land on a vacant lot in the city of Jamiltepec, about 19 miles from the area of Pinotepa Nacional. The craft was carrying Interior Secretary Alfonso Navarrete Prida and Oaxaca Gov. Alejandro Murat, neither of whom had serious injuries.

Navarrete Prida suffered "slight concussions," according to a tweet by the Interior Ministry.

The accident was the latest embarrassment in Navarrete's short term at the Interior Department, which oversees most political and security issues. Earlier this month, an intelligence agent from an agency overseen by Navarrete's department was caught tailing an opposition presidential candidate.

Both Navarrete and the defense department said they regretted the loss of life in Friday's accident.

Jorge Morales, a local reporter who was aboard the helicopter when it crashed, described harrowing moments as the pilot lost control and the helicopter attempted to land in a swirl of dust.

"The moment the helicopter touched down it lost control, it slid-- like it skidded-- and it hit some vehicles that were stationed in the area," he told a Mexican television news program. "In that moment, you couldn't see anything, nothing else was heard beside the sound that iron makes when it scrapes the earth."

Navarrete and Murat were evaluating reports of damage from the earthquake before their helicopter crashed.

The U.S. Geological Survey originally put the magnitude of Friday's quake at 7.5 but later lowered it to 7.2. It said the epicenter was 33 miles (53 kilometers) northeast of Pinotepa in southern Oaxaca state and had a depth of 15 miles (24 kilometers).

President Enrique Pena Nieto said via Twitter that both officials and crew were fine, although the interior department said that they had light injuries.</s>SANTIAGO JAMILTEPEC, Mexico (Reuters) - At least 13 people on the ground, including three children, were killed when a Mexican military helicopter carrying top officials surveying damages from an earthquake crashed in a small town in the southern state of Oaxaca, authorities said on Saturday.

The helicopter, which was carrying Mexico’s interior minister and the state governor, crashed on top of two vans in an open field while trying to land in Santiago Jamiltepec after a tour of damage from a powerful earthquake on Friday, officials said.

The senior officials survived but 12 people at the scene were killed and another died later in a hospital, Oaxaca’s attorney general’s office said in a statement. Fifteen more people were injured.

The 7.2 magnitude quake left nearly a million homes and businesses without power in Mexico City and the south and damaged at least 50 homes in Oaxaca.

The state, along with Mexico City, is still reeling from earthquakes that caused widespread damage in September and killed at least 471 people.</s>A military helicopter carrying officials assessing damage from a powerful earthquake has crashed in southern Mexico, killing 13 people and injuring 15, all of them on the ground.

A military helicopter carrying officials assessing damage from a powerful earthquake has crashed in southern Mexico, killing 13 people and injuring 15, all of them on the ground.

The Oaxaca state prosecutor’s office said the chopper crashed into a group of people who had been spending the night outside after a powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the area.

Five women, four men and three children were killed at the crash site and another person died later in hospital. People rush into the street after fleeing buildings following the earthquake (Marco Ugarte/AP) The Defence Department said the victims had been waiting for the helicopter, but did not provide more details.

The military helicopter apparently flipped and fell on top of the group of people as it attempted to land. Mexico’s Interior Department said that the helicopter was carrying Secretary Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca state Governor Alejandro Murat, who were evaluating reports of damage from the earthquake.

Mr Navarrete told local media that “as the army helicopter we were travelling in tried to land, the pilot lost control, the helicopter fell and flipped”. You couldn't see anything, nothing else was heard beside the sound that iron makes when it scrapes the earth
• “You couldn't see anything, nothing else was heard beside the sound that iron makes when it scrapes the earth” “You couldn't see anything, nothing else was heard beside the sound that iron makes when it scrapes the earth”

Jorge Rosales, a local reporter who was aboard the helicopter when it crashed, described harrowing moments as the pilot lost control and the helicopter attempted to land in a swirl of dust. “The moment the helicopter touched down it lost control, it slid – like it skidded – and it hit some vehicles that were stationed in the area,” he said.

“In that moment, you couldn’t see anything, nothing else was heard beside the sound that iron makes when it scrapes the earth.”

The helicopter was attempting to land on a vacant piece of ground in the city of Jamiltepec, about 19 miles from the area of Pinotepa Nacional, the Mexican army said.

The US Geological Survey originally put the magnitude of Friday’s quake at 7.5 but later lowered it to 7.2. It said the epicentre was 33 miles north-east of Pinotepa in southern Oaxaca state, and had a depth of 15 miles. President Enrique Pena Nieto said via Twitter that both officials and crew were unhurt, although the interior department said that they had light injuries.</s>A military helicopter carrying Mexico's interior secretary and a state governor who were assessing damage from a powerful earthquake has crashed in the southern state of Oaxaca, killing 13 people and injuring 15 others.

Mexico's Interior Department says Secretary Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca state Gov. Alejandro Murat were evaluating reports of damage from Friday's quake when their helicopter crashed near the city of Pinotepa Nacional.

President Enrique Pena Nieto said via Twitter that both officials and crew were fine, but some people on the ground had been killed or injured. The Interior Department put the death toll at two.

A magnitude-7.2 earthquake shook south and central Mexico on Friday, causing people to flee swaying buildings and office towers in the country's capital. There were no reports of severe damage.
A military helicopter surveying the damage, carrying the Governor of Oaxaca Alejandro Murat Hinojosa and Mexico's Secretary of the Interior Alfonso Navarrete Prida, crashes over Jamiltepec, killing 13 people on the ground. These deaths are the only known ones related to the earthquake reported so far.