Eleven Die in Helicopter Crash in Mexico

MEXICO CITY — A federal government helicopter searching for gunmen protecting drug plantations crashed into a mountain Wednesday in southern Mexico, killing all nine soldiers and two pilots on board, authorities said.

The crash near the village of Igualita, about 150 miles southeast of Mexico City, was under investigation. Earlier, another helicopter was hit by gunfire from the ground, the federal attorney general’s office said.

The first helicopter landed at a nearby airstrip. The crashed copter was looking for the gunmen who shot at the first.

The government statement said winds and visibility may have played roles in the crash, but authorities “have not ruled out in any way the possibility that the helicopter crash was the result of direct aggression.”