Mexico: 13 Dead, Several Injured in Helicopter Crash Near Earthquake Epicenter

According to Oaxaca’s State Attorney General, 13 people were killed in a helicopter crash near the epicenter of Friday´s 7.2 earthquake in Mexico. Via a press release issued early on Saturday, the Attorney General´s office informed officials that the bodies of five women, four men, two girls, and boy were found at the crash site.  

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A group of officials, including Mexico’s interior minister and Oaxaca’s governor, were aboard the helicopter surveying the damage to coordinate the federal government´s response to the emergency when the pilot is said to have lost control of the craft. The two officials were unharmed.

“Another person died in the hospital of Jamiltepec where he was taken due to the lesions endured,” the press release reads.

Officials say the helicopter was between 30 and 40 meters from the landing when the incident occurred, all of the persons reported dead we on the ground near the crash site.

The earthquake, which struck the region Friday at 5:39 p.m., also activated the Mexican volcano Popocatepetl, north of Oaxaca. Less than an hour after the tremors, the volcano emitted a 700-meter high column of water vapor and ash.

So far, the National Seismological Institute has reported 225 aftershocks, causing greater stress and fear among the affected population. Last September another powerful earthquake hit the south-central area of Mexico causing hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries.

“Are we ok? We are very frightened! We haven’t had so much fear since September. We haven’t recovered from that scar,” a man in Mexico city told a BBC reporter.

Regional leaders have expressed their solidarity with the people of Mexico. Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno said via Twitter "Mexico has suffered a new earthquake of 7.5 degrees. We are attentive and ready to provide our help in case it is necessary. Our solidarity with you Mexican brothers!"

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos also expressed his solidarity towards Mexico and its president, Enrique Peña Nieto via Twitter. "We are attentive to the reports of the earthquake registered in Oaxaca. From Colombia we accompany the Mexican people, all our solidarity @EPN (Enrique Peña Nieto)," Santos expressed through the social network.

Although there have been no casualties directly related to the quake, local media reports that over 570,000 people are without electricity. Tremors were reported to have reached neighboring Guatemala.