The death toll of the plane crash where Mexican Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mourino died rose to 13, General Prosecutor of Justice from Mexico City (PGJDF)Miguel Angel Mancera said on Wednesday.
Mancera told reporters that the dead included eight passengers of the Lear Jet, property of the Interior Ministry, and other five people that were on land.
During the accident which took place Tuesday night, Mourino, former anti drug prosecutor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, other two lower level officers, two stewardesses, the pilot and the co-pilot were killed.
Mourino and Santiago – main brains of the drug against drug trafficking in Mexico – were coming back from a tour in the sate of San Luis Potosi, where they signed an agreement with the governor of that state to face with more efficiency the organized crime, which has killed at least 4,000 people during 2008.
The victims of the accident were taken Wednesday early morning to the facilities of the Forensic Medical Service (Semefo).
Mancera said that till Wednesday morning there were 13 people in hospitals of Mexico City, from them four are grave, with burns in 50 and 70 percent of their bodies.
The aircraft with license XC-VMC took off from San Luis Potosi (center) and was seeking to land in Mexico City.
Mexican Communication and Transports Minister Luis Tellez said that the results of the investigation into the crash could take days and even weeks, but he said that there is no evidence that it could have been a sabotage.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon Wednesday named a temporary interior minister to replace Juan Camilo Mourino.
"According to article 101 of the Interior Regulation of the Interior Ministry, Vice Interior Minister Abraham Gonzalez Uyeda will temporarily replace the minister," the presidential office said in a statement.
Calderon would "follow up the responsibilities of the Interior Ministry and fulfil all pending work," the statement said.
(Xinhua News Agency November 6, 2008)
