Patricia Castellanos / AFP / Getty Images
A helicopter trying to assess damage from Friday's earthquake in Oaxaca state crashed while landing, killing at least 13 people, including three children, Mexican officials reported.
An additional 15 people were injured as a result of the crash.
The helicopter was carrying Mexico’s interior minister and the state governor of Oaxaca. Neither were injured as a result of the crash.
The crash followed a magnitude-7.2 earthquake that left nearly a million homes and businesses without electricity, including in Mexico City, and damaged at least 50 homes in Oaxaca, Reuters reported. The earthquake itself caused no casualties.
Mexico's president, Enrique Peña Nieto, tweeted his condolences for those who lost their lives on Friday night.
The governor of Oaxaca's office released a statement about the crash on Saturday morning, recording the official number of casualties and injuries.
Officials said the bodies of five women and four men were found at the scene, as well as two female children and a male child. A 13th victim died in hospital.
The pilot lost control as the helicopter was coming in to land, crashing on top of two vans in a field not far from the epicenter of the earthquake, the BBC reported.
The Oaxaca earthquake follows a deadly 7.1 quake in September that struck just southeast of Mexico City, collapsing buildings and claiming the lives of 471 people.