Mexico governor dies in air crash

Gustavo Vazquez Montes had been in office for just over a year

The governor of Mexico's western state of Colima, Gustavo Vazquez Montes, has died in a plane crash.

At least five other people were killed when the light executive jet went down in the neighbouring state of Michoacan.

An investigation has been launched to determine the possible cause of the accident, officials say.

Mr Vazquez Montes, 42, won the hotly-contested election in Colima in 2003. He was a member of Mexico's main opposition party, the PRI.

'No survivors'

The accident happened as the governor was returning from meetings in the capital, Mexico City.

Investigators are now trying to determine what caused the crash

Three other passengers and the two-man crew also died when the plane lost contact shortly after taking off from the airport in Toluca, the government said.

"We have been told that there were no survivors," Mexico's Interior Minister Santiago Creel told reporters.

Mr Creel confirmed Governor Vazquez Montes's death, without giving any information on the identities of the rest of the victims.

The crash site was later located about 200km (125 miles) west of Toluca.

Reports in local media say that there could have been a total of seven people on board of the plane.

The jet was identified as the 12-seater Israeli-built Westwind twin-engine jet, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Governor Vazquez Montes had been in office for just over a year after winning the election that was held twice because of complaints of voting irregularities in the original vote.