Six people, including five members of the Mexican Navy, died when their helicopter crashed during operations to put out forest fires, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Saturday. The crash occurred in a remote, hilly area of the north-central state of Queretaro on Friday.
The MI-17 helicopter, which took off from Valle Verde in the neighboring state of San Luis Potosi, was carrying a helibucket with 2,500 liters (660 gallons) of water to fight a fire, the navy said earlier. Difficulties accessing the accident site meant authorities were not able to confirm the deaths until Saturday.