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Helicopter crashes after 7.2-magnitude earthquake rocks Mexico
People react after an earthquake shook buildings in Mexico City today.
(EDGARD GARRIDO/REUTERS)
Hours after a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake rocked south and central Mexico on Friday, two government officials were involved in a deadly helicopter crash while surveying the damage.
At least two people were killed when the helicopter carrying Interior Minister Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat came crashing down as the pilot tried to land.
The senior officials were not seriously harmed in the accident, which occurred just hours after the quake left buildings in Mexico City swaying for more than two minutes.
The quake's epicenter was 33 miles northeast of Pinotepa in Oaxaca state, with a depth of 15 miles. There were no immediate reports of deaths from the earthquake, which struck at 5:39 p.m.
Crowds spilled out onto the streets of Mexico City, where residents were still jittery after a devastating quake in September killed 369 people in the country's central region.
“It was awful,” said Mercedes Rojas Huerta, 57. She was sitting on a bench outside her home in Mexico City’s trendy Condesa district on Friday, too frightened to go back inside. “It started to shake; the cars were going here and there. What do I do?”
About an hour after the quake, a magnitude 5.8 aftershock also centered in Oaxaca caused tall buildings in Mexico City to briefly sway again.
People comfort one another in the aftermath of the earthquake.
(EDGARD GARRIDO/REUTERS)
Mexican Civil Protection chief Luis Felipe Puente tweeted that there were no immediate reports of damages from the quake.
The Oaxaca state government said via Twitter that only material damages were reported near Pinotepa and Santiago Jamiltepec, but that shelters were opened for those fleeing damaged homes.
The Mexico City Red Cross said that the facade of a building collapsed in Mexico City’s Condesa neighborhood, which was hit hard on Sept. 19. A video showed people walking through a dust cloud. But reporters at the scene later found no evidence of a collapse at the location given.
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