Crash Kills Mexico's Interior Secretary

Plane Hits Neighborhood in Capital

MEXICO CITY, Nov. 4 -- A small plane crashed in a wealthy Mexico City neighborhood Tuesday, killing the nation's interior secretary and at least seven others, and setting dozens of cars ablaze, officials said.

Juan Camilo Mouriño was one of President Felipe Calderón's closest advisers and had been embroiled in scandal since taking office in the midst of Mexico's violent fight against drug cartels. He was in charge of the country's security.

Presidential spokesman Max Cortázar told journalists that Mouriño and a group of advisers were among those killed. They were returning from an event in the city of San Luis Potosi.

Officials say the crash appears to have been an accident. Eight people are confirmed dead and at least 40 have been hospitalized. Cars were in flames on a street in the capital's posh Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood.

Mexico City's mayor, Marcelo Ebrard, said there was no chance that anyone aboard survived, considering the force of the crash, which set two dozen cars on fire and spread pieces of wreckage across a wide area.

Former assistant attorney general José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos was also on board the flight.

Television footage showed rescue workers trying to control the flames and keep spectators away.

Ebrard said that 1,800 people were evacuated from area offices.

Civil aviation officials were investigating the cause of the crash, he said.