MEXICO CITY: A 7.2-magnitude earthquake that rattled Mexico on Friday triggered a tragedy when a minister’s helicopter killed 13 people during a crash-landing on the way to the epicentre.

The UH-60 Black Hawk military helicopter landed on its side, crushing a van.

There were no reported casualties from the quake itself, which damaged buildings.

The chopper was carrying Interior Minister Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca state Governor Alejandro Murat, who were unharmed, President Enrique Pena Nieto said.

“Unfortunately, multiple people on the ground lost their lives and others were injured,” he wrote on Twitter late Friday.

On Saturday the Oaxaca prosecutor’s office said five women, four men, and three children were killed by the helicopter, while another victim died en route to hospital.

Fifteen other people were injured, the office said in a statement. Rescuers quickly swarmed the accident site searching for survivors.

Navarrete told the Televisa TV network that the helicopter pilot lost control of the aircraft about 40 metres above the ground as it was coming in to land. He added that some passengers were hurt.

The helicopter went down in the south-western town of Pinotepa de Don Luis — 37 kilometres from the quake epicentre, according to the US Geological Survey.

About 50 homes in the nearby town of Santiago Jamiltepec were damaged, as well as the town hall and church, but no one was killed in the quake, the interior ministry said.

Oaxaca state authorities opened shelters for those affected, and nearly 6,000 soldiers and federal police were deployed to help with the emergency response.

Both Mexico’s National Seismological Service and the US Geological Survey put the quake’s magnitude at 7.2.

It struck at 5:39 pm (2339 GMT) at a relatively deep 24.7km, said the USGS.

The earthquake came less than six months after two quakes killed hundreds of people in the country.

On Sept 7, an 8.2-magnitude earthquake shook the nation and killed 96 people, mostly in the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2018