Ecuador's first female defense minister died Wednesday in the collision of two helicopters that also killed her daughter and five members of the military, The Associated Press quoted officials as saying. The mid-air wreck in the port city of Manta killed Defense Minister Guadalupe Larriva, 50, her daughter Claudia Avila, 17, and five more officials, Interior Secretary Gustavo Larrea confirmed. In a televised interview Vice President Lenin Moreno said the helicopters were performing a night flight test «and in a bad maneuver it appears that the blades collided and the helicopters fell to the ground.» The crash took place near the military base in Manta, 260 kilometers (160 miles) southeast of the capital of Quito.
