Cyclic Hotline
28th Apr 2001, 23:24
Argentine industrialist feared dead in plane crash
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - A top industrialist is feared dead after a light plane crashed in flooded countryside near Argentina's capital, killing all 10 people on board, police said.
Agostino Rocca, president of the Argentine industrial conglomerate Techint, was one of eight passengers and two crew members on a Cessna that crashed on Saturday near the village of Roque Perez, about 90 miles southwest of Buenos Aires, a police spokesman told Reuters.
"The company told us that one of the passengers was Agostino Rocca," Roque Perez police official Rodrigo Lujan said. Local media reported that Rocca had died.
German Sopena, news editor of the leading daily La Nacion, one of Argentina's most respected journalists and an expert on the country's southern region of Patagonia, was also killed in the crash, according to the newspaper's Web site.
Techint did not officially confirm Rocca's death, and company officials were not immediately available for comment. Government tourism secretary Hernan Lombardi said his death was "almost confirmed."
"I want to express my profound sadness for all the victims ... for Agostino Rocca and German Sopena and for all those who died," President Fernando de la Rua told TN television.
The Cessna 208 aircraft was attempting to make an emergency landing when it smashed into private farmland, according to local TN television. The cause of the accident was unclear.
Techint is one of the world's leaders in manufacturing seamless steel tubes for the oil industry through its control of Argentina's Siderca and Mexico's Tamsa. The company has interests in Europe, including Italy.
The plane took off from San Fernando, 18 miles north of Buenos Aires, heading for Trelew, 600 miles to the south before crashing at about 6 a.m. (10 a.m. British time), according to a police spokesman, who asked not to be named.
The smashed plane was lying in more than one foot of floodwater, and seven bodies were still trapped in the wreckage, TN television reported. Local media said there had been heavy rains in the area.
"Police, firefighters and the Argentine air force are at the scene trying to establish the identity of the dead and the cause of the crash," a police spokesman said.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - A top industrialist is feared dead after a light plane crashed in flooded countryside near Argentina's capital, killing all 10 people on board, police said.
Agostino Rocca, president of the Argentine industrial conglomerate Techint, was one of eight passengers and two crew members on a Cessna that crashed on Saturday near the village of Roque Perez, about 90 miles southwest of Buenos Aires, a police spokesman told Reuters.
"The company told us that one of the passengers was Agostino Rocca," Roque Perez police official Rodrigo Lujan said. Local media reported that Rocca had died.
German Sopena, news editor of the leading daily La Nacion, one of Argentina's most respected journalists and an expert on the country's southern region of Patagonia, was also killed in the crash, according to the newspaper's Web site.
Techint did not officially confirm Rocca's death, and company officials were not immediately available for comment. Government tourism secretary Hernan Lombardi said his death was "almost confirmed."
"I want to express my profound sadness for all the victims ... for Agostino Rocca and German Sopena and for all those who died," President Fernando de la Rua told TN television.
The Cessna 208 aircraft was attempting to make an emergency landing when it smashed into private farmland, according to local TN television. The cause of the accident was unclear.
Techint is one of the world's leaders in manufacturing seamless steel tubes for the oil industry through its control of Argentina's Siderca and Mexico's Tamsa. The company has interests in Europe, including Italy.
The plane took off from San Fernando, 18 miles north of Buenos Aires, heading for Trelew, 600 miles to the south before crashing at about 6 a.m. (10 a.m. British time), according to a police spokesman, who asked not to be named.
The smashed plane was lying in more than one foot of floodwater, and seven bodies were still trapped in the wreckage, TN television reported. Local media said there had been heavy rains in the area.
"Police, firefighters and the Argentine air force are at the scene trying to establish the identity of the dead and the cause of the crash," a police spokesman said.