Mexican governor and her husband killed in air crash

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A Mexican governor and her senator husband were killed in an air crash in the center of the country on Monday, just days after she sworn into office on December 14, the government said.

Martha Erika Alonso, new governor of the central state of Puebla, died with Rafael Moreno, a senator and the former governor of the same state, when their helicopter came down not far from the state capital of Puebla city, according to local media.

As a member of the center-right National Action Party (PAN), Ms Alondo, 45, became the first female governor of one of Mexico's most populous states, earlier this month after a hotly contested election.

"I said hello to (Moreno) in the Senate just a few days ago. Those of us who had the opportunity to know them are sad and troubled," Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Twitter, confirming the deaths of the couple.

Police and rescue personnel stand at the scene where the helicopter transporting Martha Erika Alonso, governor of the state of Puebla, and her husband Senator Rafel Moreno Valle crashed, in Coronango, Puebla, December 24, 2018. /VCG Photo

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Twitter that his government would investigate the accident and expressed deepest condolences to the political couple's relatives.

It was unclear if the pilot died or what had caused the crash.

Television images showed the remains of an aircraft in flames, a plume of smoke and people who showed up at what appeared to be the scene.

Moreno was governor of Puebla between 2011 and 2017 and headed the PAN in the Senate.

An aerial view of the scene of the helicopter accident near Puebla, December 24, 2018. /VCG Photo

Marko Cortes, the head of the PAN, said on Twitter that the party was in mourning.

Benito Nacif, an official at the federal electoral institute, said Puebla's Congress would have to appoint an interim governor until new elections could be held for a successor to serve out the remainder of Alonso's term.

A number of Mexican politicians have died in aircraft accidents in the past few years, including federal interior ministers in 2008 and 2011. The latter two were also members of the PAN.

(With inputs from agencies)