TUXTLA GUTIÉRREZ, MEXICO: A small airplane from Guatemala involved in fighting an outbreak of flesh-eating larvae crashed in southern Mexico on Friday, killing three people, authorities said.
The aircraft came down in the southernmost Chiapas state while releasing sterile screwworm flies to combat a pest that prompted the United States to suspend livestock imports from Mexico last month.
Two Guatemalan pilots and a Mexican crew member were killed in the crash, aviation authorities said.
Mexico and the United States are working together to try to contain the outbreak of the screwworm fly, whose larvae can kill cattle.
President Donald Trump’s administration complained in April that Mexico was restricting US-contracted planes involved in the effort to operating six days a week instead of seven.
Washington also accused Mexican authorities of imposing “substantial import duties” on aviation parts, equipment and sterile fly shipments.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called the US livestock import suspension “unfair” and said she hoped that it would be lifted soon.
