MEXICO CITY - Martha Erika Alonso, the governor of the Mexican state of Puebla, died on Monday in a helicopter crash, local media reported on Tuesday. Mexican Public Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo said that the crash had been caused by a technical problem. “The helicopter had an apparent malfunction, it is not clear so far which one,” Durazo said at a press conference, adding that it was yet to be established what exactly technical fault occurred. According to Mexico’s Televisa TV channel, the governor was aboard the helicopter with her husband Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas, who used to serve as governor of Puebla in 2011-2017. Moreno Valle also died as a result of the accident, the broadcaster added. The helicopter crash was earlier reported by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who entrusted the government with responding to the situation. The Mexican president has also expressed condolences to the relatives of the deceased couple. “I personally express my deepest condolences to the relatives of senator Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas and his wife, State of Puebla governor Martha Erika Alonso.

I commit myself to investigate the reasons [of the crash], to tell the truth about what happened and to act accordingly,” the president wrote on his Twitter blog. Alonso was a politician from the country’s conservative National Action Party. She officially took on the role of Puebla governor only on December 14.