Mexico's top cabinet secretary dies in crash

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The country's top Cabinet secretary, Francisco Blake Mora, a key figure in Mexico's battle with drug cartels, died in a helicopter crash today with seven others, including the pilot, the government said.

The Presidency spokeswoman, Alejandra Sota, said authorities located the bodies of the secretary and seven others. They included Interior Undersecretary Felipe Zamora, said agency spokesman Jose Alfredo Garcia.

Calderon appointed Blake Mora as interior secretary in July 2010.

Blake Mora was traveling to a prosecutors' meeting in the neighboring state of Morelos when the helicopter went down in a mountainous area of Mexico state southeast of Mexico City. Officials said they did not immediately know the cause of the crash.

The secretary of the interior is the country's top official after the president, overseeing internal political affairs and security, making him a key figure in directing the battle against drug cartels, as well as negotiating with opposition political parties and with the legislature.