Exiled Zimbabwe opposition leader, Roy Benneth and four others have been reportedly killed in a helicopter crash in a remote northern part of the US state of New Mexico on Thursday.

According to the New Mexico State Police, the crash of the private Huey helicopter in  a rugged terrain near Raton, New Mexico killed the 60-year-old Bennett along with his wife, Heather Benett, 55, James Coleman Dodd, 57, of Colorado, Charles Ryland Burnnett, 61 of Texas and Paul Cobb, 67 also of Texas.

Bennett, a former Treasurer-General of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, was an important figure in Zimbabwean politics who had served time in prison under former President Robert Mugabe.

A statement released by the MDC said the charismatic Bernett was a successful farmer in the country’s eastern Chimanimani District who, although was white, fought for the right of black Zimbabweans.