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 kids beamed huge smiles.
What was meant to rejoice their center baby’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 college the place their kids studied.
Escobar and Mercè Camprubí Montal have been each executives at models of power expertise firm Siemens. Camprubí Montal additionally had ties to the well-known Barcelona FC soccer membership. Her grandfather was a former president of the well-known Barcelona soccer membership.
The youngsters have been 4, 8 and 10 years outdated, and the center baby’s ninth birthday would have been Friday, stated New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams.
“Unimaginable,” was how Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the tragedy.
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 having realized of the deaths of their buddies and classmates, as seen by an Related Press reporter.
The varsity had a minute of silence within the morning, Oleguer Bertran, an 18-year-old scholar, instructed the AP.
A father on the faculty’s entrance stated his son had been buddies with considered one of kids who perished, and is totally devastated. The person declined to be named.
The varsity printed a press release on Instagram saying it was “devastated by the death of a family of our community.” It declined to remark when contacted by the AP.
‘My infinite supply of power and happiness’
Escobar was initially from Puertollano, a small metropolis in central Spain’s Castilla La Mancha area.
“I want to express my sorrow for the traffic helicopter accident in New York that claimed the lives of Agustín Escobar and his family,” regional president Emiliano García-Web page wrote on X. “In 2023 we named him a Favorite Son of Castilla La Mancha.”
Escobar labored for the tech firm Siemens for greater than 27 years, most just lately as international CEO for rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, based on his LinkedIn account. In late 2022, he briefly turned president and CEO of Siemens Spain.
He usually posted concerning the significance of sustainability within the rail trade and sometimes traveled internationally for work, together with journeying to India and the UK prior to now month. He additionally was vice chairman of the German Chamber of Commerce for Spain since 2023.
In a LinkedIn submit in 2022, he thanked his household, “my endless source of energy and happiness, for their unconditional support, love … and patience.”
Soccer membership connection
Camprubí Montal hailed from northeast Catalonia, the place Barcelona is situated. She had labored for Siemens Power for about seven years, together with as its international commercialization supervisor and as a digitalization supervisor, based on her LinkedIn account.
She was additionally intently 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 the membership from 1946-1952.
The membership has to date not commented on her loss of life.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash in which Agustin Escobar and his family lost their lives. Our heartfelt condolences go out to all their loved ones,” 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 a number of days, stated Steven Fulop, mayor of Jersey Metropolis. Pictures posted by the tour firm 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 medical expert to launch the our bodies for transport again to Spain.
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AP photojournalist Emilio Morenatti contributed.
