(CNN) The new governor of the Mexican state of Puebla and her politician husband were killed Monday in a helicopter crash in central Mexico, according to the head of their political party.

Puebla governor Martha Erika Alonso and her husband Senator Rafael Moreno Valle died in the crash, as did the pilot, co-pilot and a fifth passenger, according to Public Security and Civil Protection Secretary Alfonso Durazo.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also confirmed the deaths on Twitter Monday evening. He offered his condolences to the victims' families and vowed a transparent investigation into the cause of the Christmas eve crash.

The site of the helicopter crash that killed the governor of Puebla and her husband.

The crash occurred at 2:40 p.m. local time about ten minutes after takeoff, Durazo said at a press conference Monday night. Communication with the aircraft was lost and a crash was then heard, he said.

"When the aircraft was in flight some three nautical miles from the Puebla airport, it suffered an apparent failure which hasn't been determined yet," Durazo said.

Read More