Chinese billionaire feared dead in French helicopter crash

Originally published on December 22, 2013

A Chinese billionaire hotel magnate and a French wine entrepreneur were feared dead with two others on Saturday after their helicopter crashed hours after they had agreed on the sale of a Bordeaux chateau, police said.

The helicopter was carrying Lam Kok, a 46-year-old Chinese tea-and-property tycoon, his 12-year-old son, ex-owner James Gregoire and an interpreter, went down in the local river Dordogne by the town of Lugon-et-l'ile-du-Carney.

Police recovered the body of the 12-year-old son from the back of the helicopter wreck that was lying seven meters (23 feet) of water.

The four boarded the helicopter on Friday to take a tour of the chateau that Lam had just purchased from Gregoire. The Frenchman piloted the helicopter. After a short time in the air locals reported seeing the helicopter crash into the river.

Lam's wife decided not to fly at the last minute, saying she was "scared of helicopters,"
said an AFP photographer who saw the helicopter take-off.

Parts of the helicopter's fuselage and a camera were recovered from the crash site. Strong currents were complicating the search for the other three missing, police said.

After searchers involving sniffer dogs and police divers on Saturday, authorities are planning to use sonar on Sunday to try and locate the missing bodies.

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