MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexican Secretary of the Interior Francisco Blake Mora, the No. 2 official in the country, died Friday in a helicopter crash at age 45, according to President Felipe Calderon's office.

Spokeswoman Alejandra Sota said Blake Mora died when a helicopter he was riding in crashed in Morelos state, just outside of Mexico City.

Blake Mora started his political career in the mid-1990s as an official in his native Tijuana and served as a federal congressman through the 2000s.

Calderon appointed him as interior secretary in July 2010.