11 soldiers killed when Mexican military helicopter crashes in mountainous area in north

11 soldiers dead in Mexican military chopper crash

MEXICO CITY — Eleven Mexican soldiers have died in the crash of a military helicopter carrying troops for anti-drug missions.

Mexico’s Defense Department says preliminary evidence suggests the crash was caused by bad weather in the northern state of Durango. It said Saturday the Bell helicopter went down late Friday in a mountainous area of the state.

Five officers and six enlisted men were flying out of a base in Badiraguato, a township in neighboring Sinaloa state where fugitive drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is reportedly active.

Mexican military helicopters have come under fire in drug-related violence that has killed more than 22,700 people in Mexico since late 2006.