BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — As they sat inside a helicopter shortly earlier than a flight over the towering skyscrapers of New York City, Agustin Escobar flashed a thumbs-up whereas his spouse and kids beamed massive smiles.
A visit that was supposed to have a good time their center little one’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 City 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 dad and mom labored and the college the place their kids studied.
Escobar was world CEO of rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, whereas his spouse, Mercè Camprubí Montal labored for Siemens Power, a separate firm. Camprubí Montal’s grandfather was a former president of the well-known Barcelona FC soccer membership.
The kids have been 4, 8 and 10 years previous, and the center little one’s ninth birthday would have been Friday, in line with New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
“Unimaginable,” was how Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the tragedy.
“The information that has reached us a few helicopter accident within the Hudson River is devastating,” Sánchez mentioned on X throughout a state go to to China. “5 members of a Spanish household, together with three kids, have misplaced their lives. It’s an unimaginable tragedy. I really feel for the lack of their family members.”
College students on the Jesuits of Sant Ignasi college in Barcelona’s upscale Sarria neighborhood wept and embraced their dad and mom Friday afternoon, after studying of the deaths of their buddies and classmates, as seen by an Related Press reporter.
The college held a minute of silence within the morning, Oleguer Bertran, an 18-year-old pupil, advised the AP.
A father on the college’s entrance mentioned his son had been buddies with considered one of kids who perished, and is totally devastated. The person declined to be named.
The college printed an announcement on Instagram saying it was “devastated by the demise of a household of our group.” It declined to remark when contacted by the AP.
Escobar was initially from Puertollano, a small metropolis in central Spain’s Castilla La Mancha area.
“I need to categorical my sorrow for the visitors helicopter accident in New York that claimed the lives of Agustín Escobar and his household,” regional president Emiliano García-Web page wrote on X. “In 2023, we named him a Favourite Son of Castilla La Mancha.”
Escobar labored for the tech firm Siemens for greater than 27 years, most lately as world CEO for rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, in line with his LinkedIn account. In late 2022, he briefly grew to become president and CEO of Siemens Spain.
He frequently posted concerning the significance of sustainability within the rail trade and infrequently traveled internationally for work, together with to India and the UK prior to now month. He additionally was vp of the German Chamber of Commerce for Spain since 2023.
In a LinkedIn publish in 2022, he thanked his household, “my infinite supply of vitality and happiness, for his or her unconditional assist, love … and endurance.”
Camprubí Montal hailed from northeast Catalonia, the place Barcelona is. She had labored for Siemens Power for about seven years, together with as its world commercialization supervisor and as a digitalization supervisor, in line with 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 over the membership from 1946-1952.
The membership has not commented on her demise.
“We’re deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash by which Agustin Escobar and his household misplaced their lives. Our heartfelt condolences exit to all their family members,” Siemens mentioned in an announcement Friday.
Escobar had traveled to the New York space on enterprise, and his household flew in to increase the journey by a couple of days, mentioned Steven Fulop, mayor of Jersey Metropolis. Photographs the tour firm posted on its web site present the household smiling within the helicopter earlier than takeoff.
On Saturday, Adams and Joan Camprubí Montal, Mercè Camprubí Montal’s brother, visited the crash web site and laid flowers.
“It’s our method of claiming, as New Yorkers, we stand united with this household throughout this second of grief, and their grief is ours,” Adams mentioned.
Joan Camprubí Montal on Saturday expressed gratitude for the outpouring of condolences to his household
“They left collectively. They left with out struggling. They usually left with a smile on their faces. And that’s essential for us as a household,” he mentioned.
