Mexico City, Sep 22 (IANS): All three crew members and two passengers were killed when a federal police helicopter crashed into the mountain range in Mexico's southern state of Guerrero, police sources said Saturday.

The Black Hawk helicopter was found near the community of La Pintada, where 68 people were missing after a landslide triggered by heavy rains, reported Xinhua citing official sources.

The Black Hawk, which was missing since Thursday, was one of the many helicopters that came to help with the evacuation of residents in high risk areas after floods and landslides caused by the storms "Ingrid" and "Manuel" which hit last weekend in 24 states of the country.

The rescue helicopter was conducting rescue operation in the municipality of Atoyac de Alvarez after taking off Thursday afternoon from the base of Pie de la Cuesta to address La Pintada. Federal Police lost contact with the aircraft hours later after it rescued a group of people, said sources.

The accident was being probed to ascertain actual reasons.