Mexico tycoon Moises Saba Masri killed with family members in Mexico City helicopter crash

CNNExpansion and Reuters

The prominent Mexican businessman Moises Saba Masri was killed Sunday along with other family members when the helicopter in which they were riding crashed in Mexico City, authorities said.

The accident killed at least five persons including the pilot, said Elias Moreno Brizuela, Mexico City's Secretary of Civil Protection, who confirmed the death of Saba Masri.

Saba Masri, 47, who presided over companies including Unefon, was a major shareholder of TV Azteca and even controlled a chain of cinemas. The Sabas also control pharmaceutical company Grupo Casa Saba.

He was not exempt from business disputes, from research in the United States to investor lawsuits. He was cleared on fraud charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2008. And the Saba family lost a fierce bidding war against U.S. bank Citigroup in 2007 to buy money-losing airline Aeromexico.

There is conflicting information about which family members were traveling with Saba Masri City authorities were not immediately available to confirm the information.

According to Reuters, Saba Masri was flying with his family and Alberto Saba and Judith Humberto Casal.

However, Notimex quoted Moreno Brizuela as saying the dead in addition to Saba Masri included Alberto Saba Jr. and Judith Adela Saba or Tauchi Casal and the helicopter's pilot Capt. Armando Fernandez, while the sixth victim has not been identified.

Reforma attributed to the security chief a statement that Alberto Saba Raffoul, Saba Masri's father, was not in the helicopter and had not died.

"Apparently it was the wrong time. One of the propellers of the helicopter hit a house and the aircraft fell into a ravine," said the official, who said there were no survivors.

Photographs of the accident showed the charred remains of the aircraft in a wooded area west of Mexico City.

Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard went to the site to coordinate the work of rescue teams and accompany relatives of victims.

Authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of the tragedy that occurred on a night in which rain and fog covering the area.
Carlos Orvañanos, the head of the delegation Cuajimalpa-in which the accident occurred, said the flight was coming from the central city of Toluca.

According to Moreno Brizuela, the Sabas returned from a trip from New York and had boarded the private helicopter at the Toluca International Airport to reach their home in Mexico City.