MEXICO CITY — Five people, including the top security official for the central Mexico state of Aguascalientes, died in a helicopter crash Thursday, authorities said.

The state public security helicopter crashed early Thursday morning near a hospital in Jesús María, Aguascalientes, killing state security chief Porfirio Sánchez Mendoza and four others, Aguascalientes Gov. María Teresa Jiménez said during a news conference.

Jiménez said preliminary information suggested the crash was an accident.

Sánchez Mendoza was arrested in February when the federal Attorney General’s Office opened a case against him for alleged torture, but he was released seven months later due to a lack of evidence and returned to his job.(AP)