Mexican Interior Secretary dies in chopper crash (Updated with video)

Mexican Secretary of the Interior Jose Fransisco Blake Mora died in a helicopter crash that occurred this morning.

Presidential spokeswoman Alejandra Sota confirmed minutes ago in a news conference that Blake Mora, the Subsecretary of the Interior, and at least seven others died in the accident that happened as the chopper was en route to a meeting of prosecutors in Morelos state. She added that the cause of the accident outside of Mexico City has yet to be known and that the government will fully investigate the fatal accident.

According to initial reports, the helicopter was flying in very foggy conditions and that the chopper "was unable to land" safely. Additionally, it's being reported that the helicopter may have been in a state of disrepair and not in the best state.

Today's incident happened more than three years after then-Secretary of the Interior Juan Camilo Mouriño died when the jet he was in crashed in a busy sector of Mexico City. By coincidence, the final entry in Blake Mora's Twitter account was dated on November 4th and paid tribute to Mouriño.

Blake Mora's political career began in the mid-1990s in his native Tijuana and for several years he served as a federal congressman. President Felipe Calderon appointed Blake Mora as Interior Secretary in July 2010 and served as Mexico's national security chief.

As a result of today's accident Calderon cancelled his meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, that was supposed to take place over the weekend at the Asia-Pacific summit.

Online Sources - Milenio, ABC News, Twitter, La Tercera, BBC News

Video Source - YouTube via Associated Press ("Mexico's top Cabinet secretary Francisco Blake Mora, a key figure in Mexico's battle with drug cartels, died in a helicopter crash on Friday with seven others, including the pilot, the government said.")