Total oil firm CEO killed in Moscow plane crash

MOSCOW — The CEO of French oil company Total, Christophe de Margerie has died after a private jet crashed at a Moscow airport, Russian media reported Tuesday citing aviation and law enforcement sources.

This February 14, 2007 file photo shows French oil group Total president Christophe de Margerie attending a press conference in Paris. The CEO of French oil company Total, Christophe de Margerie has died after a private jet crashed at a Moscow airport, Russian media reported October 21, 2014 citing aviation and law enforcement sources. AFP

“There was one passenger registered on the plane, French citizen Christophe de Margerie. The three crew members were also French citizens. They all died,” the TASS news agency cited an aviation source as saying.

TASS reported that the plane “according to a preliminary version, crashed into a snow plough”.

The Interfax news agency cited a police source as saying that one of the dead was a top executive at Total, naming de Margerie, 63.

A Falcon-50 plane crashed at Vnukovo airport at 11:58 p.m. on Monday Moscow time (1958 GMT), apparently on takeoff, the emergencies ministry said in a statement. “There are casualties.”

A spokesman for the emergencies ministry told Agence France-Presse that he could not give information on the casualties.

There was no immediate response from Total in France, who were contacted by AFP.