New Delhi, Dec. 23 -- A Mexican Navy aircraft on a medical mission crashed into the waters of Galveston Bay on Monday afternoon, killing at least five people - including a two-year-old child - and triggering a major search-and-rescue operation along the Texas coast, US and Mexican authorities said.

The aircraft, a Beechcraft King Air 350i operated by the Mexican Navy, was transporting a young medical patient and seven others when it went down near Galveston, about 50 miles (80.5 kilometres) southeast of Houston.

The Mexican Navy plane crash occurred on Monday afternoon near the base of a causeway along the Texas coast, close to Scholes International Airport. The US Coast Guard confirmed that the aircraft crashed into Galveston Bay, sett...