Washington, Jan 19 (IANS): Leading Zimbabwe opposition politician Roy Bennett has been killed with his wife in a helicopter crash in New Mexico state of the US, authorities said.

The private helicopter crashed in a mountainous area on Wednesday, killing the couple and three others but the deaths were confirmed by authorities on Thursday.

One person survived the accident, the BBC reported.

Bennett, a 60-year-old former farmer, was a leading figure in the Movement for Democratic Change. He was elected to Parliament in 2000.

The politician, who had been in exile in South Africa since 2010 after having been jailed by Parliament for pushing a fellow MP, was in the US to spend time with friends at a ranch belonging to Texan businessman Charles Burnett III.

Bennett's wife Heather, Charles Burnett III, pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd and co-pilot Paul Cobb were also killed in the crash, the police said.

Cobb's daughter and Burnett's partner Andra Cobb was the only survivor.