U.S. Tourists Among 14 Dead in Cozumel Crash
A helicopter with 14 people on board, mostly U.S. tourists, crashed Tuesday in the Caribbean off the island of Cozumel.
Police duty Sgt. Juan Bautist Huitzil said the helicopter crashed into the sea about three miles from the airport with two crew members and 12 passengers on board.
Rescue crews retrieved 11 bodies, and three people were still missing, he said. Officials did not expect to find survivors.
The names of the dead were not immediately available, and officials said it was too early to determine if all the passengers were Americans.
Marlene Desmond, an American whose husband is a U.S. consular officer in Cozumel, said the helicopter was from the cruise ship Costa Romantica, and it crashed after the pilot radioed that he was having engine trouble.
Huitzil said the helicopter was rented by Pegaso, a travel agency in Cancun, the capital of Quintana Roo. It was returning from a daylong excursion to the Mayan Indian ruins of Chichen Itza, on the mainland.
Cozumel, which is off the Yucatan peninsula, is popular with tourists.
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