A young woman was decapitated Thursday after she was struck by the rotor blade of a Peruvian Air Force helicopter, which was transporting the country's Prime Minister Pedro Cateriano and several other officials of the cabinet, local media reported.

The accident happened at around 2 pm, local time, when Lina Zapata Feijo, the woman victim, reportedly sought to approach the helicopter in the northwest region of Tumbes, near the border with Ecuador, according to the RPP radio service.

The radio service said the woman, 20, attempted to give Cateriano a letter about the situation of her incarcerated brother, claiming he had been jailed due to negligence from authorities.

Zapata was said to have slipped past the police escort and rushed toward the helicopter as it landed near the Tumbes River. She was struck by the rotor blade as it was still in movement and was killed on the spot.