BARCELONA, Spain — As they sat inside a helicopter shortly earlier than a flight over the towering skyscrapers of New York Metropolis, Agustin Escobar flashed a thumbs up whereas his spouse and youngsters beamed huge smiles.
A visit that was meant to rejoice their center kid’s upcoming birthday ended up being the ultimate moments for the household of 5 from Spain. Moments later, their sightseeing helicopter broke aside in midair and crashed into the Hudson River between New York Metropolis and New Jersey, killing them and the pilot.
Condolences poured in Friday for the Barcelona household, together with Spain’s prime minister, the corporate the place the mother and father labored and the varsity the place their kids studied.
Escobar was world CEO of rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, whereas his spouse, Mercè Camprubí Montal labored for Siemens Vitality, a separate firm. Camprubí Montal’s grandfather was a former president of the well-known Barcelona FC soccer membership.
The youngsters have been 4, 8 and 10 years outdated, and the center kid’s ninth birthday would have been Friday, based on New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams.
“Unimaginable,” was how Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the tragedy.
“The information that has reached us a few helicopter accident within the Hudson River is devastating,” Sánchez stated on X throughout a state go to to China. “5 members of a Spanish household, together with three kids, have misplaced their lives. It’s an unimaginable tragedy. I really feel for the lack of their family members.”
Classmates shocked
College students on the Jesuits of Sant Ignasi faculty in Barcelona’s upscale Sarria neighborhood wept and embraced their mother and father Friday afternoon, after studying of the deaths of their associates and classmates, as seen by an Related Press reporter.
The college held a minute of silence within the morning, Oleguer Bertran, an 18-year-old scholar, advised the AP.
A father on the faculty’s entrance stated his son had been associates with one among kids who perished, and is totally devastated. The person declined to be named.
The college printed a press release on Instagram saying it was “devastated by the demise of a household of our group.” It declined to remark when contacted by the AP.
‘My countless supply of vitality and happiness’
Escobar was initially from Puertollano, a small metropolis in central Spain’s Castilla La Mancha area.
“I need to categorical my sorrow for the site visitors helicopter accident in New York that claimed the lives of Agustín Escobar and his household,” regional president Emiliano García-Web page wrote on X. “In 2023, we named him a Favourite Son of Castilla La Mancha.”
Escobar labored for the tech firm Siemens for greater than 27 years, most just lately as world CEO for rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, based on his LinkedIn account. In late 2022, he briefly grew to become president and CEO of Siemens Spain.
He repeatedly posted in regards to the significance of sustainability within the rail business and infrequently traveled internationally for work, together with to India and the UK up to now month. He additionally was vp of the German Chamber of Commerce for Spain since 2023.
In a LinkedIn publish in 2022, he thanked his household, “my countless supply of vitality and happiness, for his or her unconditional help, love … and persistence.”
Soccer membership connection
Camprubí Montal hailed from northeast Catalonia, the place Barcelona is situated. She had labored for Siemens Vitality for about seven years, together with as its world commercialization supervisor and as a digitalization supervisor, based on her LinkedIn account.
She was additionally carefully tied to the historical past of the well-known Barcelona soccer membership. Her grandfather, Agustí Montal i Costa, was president of the membership from 1969 to 1977, and her great-grandfather Agustí Montal i Galobart, presided over the membership from 1946-1952.
The membership has not commented on her demise.
“We’re deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash during which Agustin Escobar and his household misplaced their lives. Our heartfelt condolences exit to all their family members,” Siemens stated in a press release Friday.
Doomed flight
Escobar had traveled to the New York space on enterprise and his household flew in to increase the journey by just a few days, stated Steven Fulop, mayor of Jersey Metropolis. Images the tour firm posted on its web site present the household smiling within the helicopter earlier than takeoff.
Jersey Metropolis’s Mayor Fulop stated a relative was anticipated to reach Friday and officers have been working with the health worker to launch the our bodies for transport again to Spain.
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