Mexico's second most senior ranking official in the country after the president has died in a helicopter crash just outside Mexico City.
The helicopter carrying Francisco Blake Mora (45) was traveling between Mexico City and the state of Morelos just to the south, his ministry said.
Four passengers were on-board, including deputy interior minister Felipe Zamora and spokesman Jose Alfredo Garcia.
Television images showed the scattered wreckage of the helicopter on a hillside south of
the capital, and the government confirmed that Blake and all others on board were killed. It
did not say what caused the crash.
President Calderon named Blake Mora interior minister in July 2010, making him responsible for coordinating action between the government's security forces.
Mr Calderon's first interior minister, Juan Camilo Mourino, died along with other security officials in a plane crash in Mexico City on Nov. 4, 2008
Mexico is locked in a brutal conflict against drug cartels that has killed 45,000 people inthe last five years and Blake is a key member of President Felipe Calderon's security team.
Mexico's peso weakened to 13.42 pesos per dollar on the news.
Agencies