At least 5 killed in Mexican Navy plane crash near Galveston in Texas

A small Mexican Navy plane transporting a young medical patient and seven others crashed Monday near Galveston, killing at least five people and setting off a search in the waters off the Texas coast, officials said.

Four of the people aboard were Navy officers, and four were civilians, including a child, Mexico's Navy said in a statement to The Associated Press. It was not immediately clear which of them died.

Two of the people aboard were members of the Michou and Mau Foundation, which is a nonprofit that provides aid to Mexican children who have suffered severe burns.

The US Coast Guard confirmed that five people had been killed in the crash and that the cause of the crash is under investigation.

The crash took place Monday afternoon near the base of a causeway near Galveston, along the Texas coast about 50 miles (80.5 kilometres) southeast of Houston.

Mexico's Navy said in a statement that the plane was helping with a medical mission and had an accident. It promised to investigate the cause of the crash.

The Navy is helping local authorities with the search and rescue operation, it said in a post on the social media platform X.

Teams from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have arrived at the scene of the crash, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on X.

The Galveston County Sheriff's Office said officials from its dive team, crime scene unit, drone unit and patrol were responding to the crash.

The incident remains under investigation, and additional information will be released as it becomes available, the sheriff's office said in a post on Facebook, adding that the public should avoid the area so emergency responders can work safely.

Galveston is an island that is a popular beach destination.

It's not immediately clear if the weather was a factor. However, the area has been experiencing foggy conditions over the past few days, according to Cameron Batiste, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

He said that at about 2:30 pm on Monday a fog came in that had about a half-mile visibility. The foggy conditions are expected to persist through Tuesday morning.