MORELOS, CHIHUAHUA — Two U.S. Embassy instructors and two Mexican State Investigation Agency officials died in a vehicle accident while returning from an operation to destroy drug labs in the municipality of Morelos, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The U.S. Embassy staffers worked as instructors who train and collaborate with Mexican law enforcement.

The Mexican officials who died were State Investigation Agency Director Pedro Román Oseguera Cervantes and Officer Manuel Genaro Méndez Montes. The four individuals were traveling back from the drug-lab destruction operation when the accident occurred.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson said in a statement that the deaths were a loss and a reminder of the risks faced by Mexican and U.S. officials dedicated to protecting communities.

Chihuahua Attorney General César Jáuregui Moreno addressed the accident at a news conference. Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos praised Oseguera Cervantes for working for the peace and security of the people of Chihuahua.

Morelos is about 360 miles southwest of the U.S.-Mexico border at the Good Neighbor Bridge crossing in El Paso, Texas. The municipality is located within Chihuahua, one of Mexico's largest states by area and a region where authorities have conducted ongoing operations targeting drug production facilities.

The State Investigation Agency is a Mexican law enforcement body. Oseguera Cervantes served as its director at the time of the accident, and Méndez Montes was an officer with the agency. Both were among a group of officials participating in the drug-lab destruction operation alongside the U.S. Embassy instructors when the vehicle accident took place during the return trip.