Mexico City ( Four Die in Helicopter Crash in Mexico - Ex mayor one of those who die )

MEXICO CITY – Businessman and politician Juan Ignacio Torres Landa was among four people killed Friday when a helicopter crashed in the central Mexican city of San Luis Potosi, the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, said.

A fifth person was injured in the accident.

“The death of Torres Landa was confirmed by his family. We spoke with his wife and she told us,” Adalberto Valadez, PRI spokesman in the businessman’s home state of Guanajuato, told Efe.

The helicopter, with a pilot, Torres Landa and three associates aboard, crashed on a golf course in San Luis Potosi.

Torres Landa was a former mayor and federal lawmaker who made two unsuccessful runs for governor of Guanajuato, the most recent in 2012.

Mexico’s government secretary, Miguel Angel Osorio, offered condolences to the victims’ families.

“Businessman and statesman, Juan Ignacio Torres Landa was a fine Mexican. We in the PRI lament his death, rest in peace,” the party’s national chair, Cesar Camacho, said on Twitter.

Guanajuato Gov. Miguel Marquez, who defeated Torres Landa in last year’s election, also offered condolences to his late rival’s family. EFE