MEXICO CITY – The death toll in the crash of a Mexican police helicopter has risen to five after another detective died of injuries, a day after the four others on board were killed when the aircraft went down Tuesday.
The pilot and four detectives were on patrol in a rural area where criminals had tried to kidnap a farmer, according to the governor of the western state of Michoacán. Gov. Silvano Aureoles said Wednesday the raid was aimed at capturing leaders of criminal gangs.
Aureoles initially said Tuesday that the helicopter was shot down, but later said the cause was under investigation.
In May 2015 attack in the neighboring state of Jalisco, gunmen for a drug cartel shot down an army helicopter with a rocket launcher, killing 10 people.