A Spanish executive who died with four family members in a helicopter accident near New York on Thursday was a senior Siemens official whose international career was celebrated in his homeland.
The Spanish Consulate General in New York confirmed on Friday that five Spanish citizens – two parents and their three children – died in the accident. Spanish officials identified the executive as being Agustín Escobar.
The officials did not appoint his wife or their children.
President Pedro Sánchez, of Spain, described the accident – in which a tourist helicopter plunged into the Hudson river, killing everyone on board – like “an unimaginable tragedy”.
“I share the sorrow of relatives of the victims at that heartbreaking time,” said Sánchez on social networks in the early hours of Friday.
The helicopter was on tour in New York when he fell from the sky and crashed into the river.
Two of the passengers were alive when the divers drew them from the icy water, but they died later, said New York police commissioner Jessica S. Tisch, at a press conference.
The pilot was also killed.
The cause of the accident is the subject of an investigation, said the police commissioner.
Mr. Escobar was born in Puertollano, a small town in central Spain, Emiliano García-Page, the head of the region, on social networks. The region celebrated its achievements in 2023, appointing him a “favorite son”.
Friday morning, the mayor Miguel ángel Ruiz of Puertollano said in a statement that the city “cries the loss of one of its brightest sons”.
Mr. ESCOBAR led the Division of Siemens rail infrastructure from the Berlin Bureau of the Company, according to his Linkedin profile. Before that, he was president and chief executive officer of Siemens Spain and previously worked for the technology giant in the United States and Brazil.
John Yoon And Rachel Chaundler Contributed reports.
