An anti-narcotics helicopter searching for gunmen protecting drug plantations crashed into a mountain in southern Mexico on Wednesday, killing all nine soldiers and two federal pilots onboard, authorities said.
What caused the crash was unclear, but the aircraft may have been attacked by drug smugglers on the ground, according to a statement released by the federal attorney general's office.
Trouble began in the isolated mountains near the town of Tlapa, about 210km southeast of Mexico City, shortly before noon, when a Bell 206 L-IV chopper carrying soldiers and investigators on a routine mission was hit by gunfire from the ground.
Bullets struck the helicopter along a baggage compartment and the pilot was able to land without incident at a nearby airstrip.
A second chopper, this one a Bell 212 carrying one military officer and eight soldiers as well two pilots from the attorney general's office, took off to find those who shot the first helicopter, but crashed around 2 p.m. near the village of Igualita, 35km southeast of Tlapa in Guerrero state, the statement said.
Investigators were working to determine what caused the crash and the statement said gusty winds and limited visibility in the area may have played roles.
But it said authorities "have not ruled out in any way the possibility that the helicopter crash was the result of direct aggression of drug traffickers."
It added that the area around Tlapa was a hotbed for illegal drug crops where federal attorney general's office aircraft "have suffered the highest number of attacks with firearms and cable traps."
So far this year, federal attorney general's office helicopters on anti-narcotics missions have been attacked six times.
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