Three members of the Mexican Navy are dead and two others are missing after a military helicopter crashed off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast on Wednesday morning.

The Ministry of the Navy (SEMAR) reported the accident in a statement early Wednesday afternoon, saying that it occurred shortly after a Panther helicopter took off from a naval vessel located 200 nautical miles, or 370 kilometers, southwest of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán.

It said that eight navy officers were on the helicopter, and that three of them — two women and one man — were killed.

SEMAR said that two officers are missing and that three others were rescued and were on their way to port to receive “specialized medical care.”

Those rescued were reported in “stable” condition. A search for the two missing navy personnel was continuing.

SEMAR said that “the causes” of the accident were not yet known. At the time of the accident, the navy was carrying out “operations for the maintenance of the rule of law,” the ministry said.

Navy Minister Rafael Ojeda conveyed his condolences to the families of those who died in a message posted to the X social media platform.

Accidents involving military aircraft are quite common in Mexico. Two military pilots and a soldier were killed in an accident involving an Air Force helicopter in Durango last October, while 14 navy marines lost their lives in a navy helicopter crash in Sinaloa in July 2022.

Mexico News Daily