Plane helping to fight cattle disease in Mexico crashes

Two Guatemalan pilots and a Mexican agronomist engineer have been killed when their plane crashed in southern Mexico near the border with Guatemala as they freed sterile flies meant to stop the spread of screwworm in cattle.

Mexico's Agriculture Ministry said in a statement that the Guatemalan plane crashed near Tapachula in southern Mexico, but did not give a cause.

Mexico in May had stepped up efforts to control the spread of the pest under pressure from the United States government, which suspended cattle imports from Mexico because of fear of the screwworm.

President Claudia Sheinbaum had said on Friday she didn't know when the suspension would be lifted, but that specialists from the US were in Mexico studying the country's efforts.

The screwworm is a larva of the Cochliomyia hominivorax fly that can invade the tissues of any warm-blooded animal, including humans. The parasite enters animals' skin, causing severe damage and lesions that can be fatal.