MEXICO CITY (Reuters) ? Thick fog likely caused the helicopter crash on Friday that killed Mexican Interior Minister Francisco Blake and all seven others on board, the country's transportation minister said on Saturday.
An exhaustive investigation is under way, but the initial results indicate the crash was an accident, Communications and Transport Minister Dionisio Perez-Jacome told a news conference.
"At this time we have no indications, no evidence ... that would make one suspect that this is anything other than an accident," he said.
That contradicted an earlier report in a Mexican newspaper, citing a preliminary investigation, that pilot error could have caused the crash.
As interior minister, Blake was responsible for helping Mexican President Felipe Calderon in the country's fight against powerful drug cartels.
Blake, 45, was the second interior minister under Calderon to be killed in an air crash, which fueled some Mexicans to speculate on Twitter about the causes of his death
The preliminary investigation suggests the helicopter crashed on a remote hillside outside of Mexico City because of low visibility caused by fog, investigators said on Saturday.
The helicopter, which was transporting Blake to an event in Cuernavaca about 60 miles south of Mexico City, unexpectedly changed route and lost contact with radar about 10 minutes after taking off, the preliminary investigation showed.
The diversion was presumably because of low visibility, and initial checks of the damaged helicopter showed no damage from an explosion or fire, Perez-Jacome said.
Mexico has requested help from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board as well as the French office in charge of investigating civil aviation accidents, Perez-Jacome told reporters late on Friday.
In a speech at a memorial service for the crash victims on Saturday, Calderon called Blake an admirable public servant. Calderon called off his planned trip to Hawaii for a summit of Asia-Pacific nations after the crash.
(Reporting by Elinor Comlay; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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