Some good news for a change...

Copter crash kills prominent Mexican businessman, officials say

Mexico City, Mexico (CNN) -- An investigation continued Monday into a helicopter crash that killed five people, including prominent Mexican businessman Moises Saba Masri, the state-run Notimex news agency said.

The Sunday night crash also killed Saba's wife, their son, their son's wife and the pilot, said Mexican President Felipe Calderon, in an official statement of condolence.

Fog and other inclement weather may have played a role in the accident, which occurred at 8:35 p.m., said Mexico City's civil protection secretary, Elias Moreno Brizuela.

The helicopter's tail hit a house and its blades struck a tree, Moreno Brizuela said at a news conference monitored by Notimex.

There were no injuries on the ground.

The helicopter fell into a ravine that is about 90 feet (30 meters) deep, hindering recovery efforts, Moreno Brizuela said.

Saba Masri was one of Mexico's wealthiest citizens, said to be worth billions of dollars. He was in the telecommunications business, owned construction and textile companies, was an investor in the TV Azteca network and owned two hotels in Acapulco, published reports said Monday. He was planning to build a 52-story mixed-use building in Mexico City this year.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/11/mexico.helicopter/

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Second article:

Another rich family has been hit by disaster.

Moises Saba Masri, 46, a member of the wealthy Mexican Saba family, was among those killed Sunday night in a helicopter crash near Mexico City. Saba Masri’s wife, son and daughter-in-law also died in the crash, which was possibly caused by fog.

Until Isaac Saba Raffoul, the son of a Syrian Jewish immigrant, passed away in July 2008, he and his family were a fixture on the Forbes World Billionaires List, estimated to be worth $2.1 billion in 2008. Saba Raffoul first landed on the list in 1996. The family’s fortune came from textiles, telecommunications, real estate and pharmaceuticals (Grupo Casa Saba). Saba Masri was the nephew of Saba Raffoul.

The Saba family has had dealings with companies around the world. In 1998, the Sabas hooked up with the Charles and David Koch, the brothers behind Koch Industries. The two billionaire families, through Koch Industries and Saba’s Imasab, each took a 50% stake in a combined textile company, KoSa. In 2001, Koch Industries bought the other half from Saba.

In 2007, Saba Masri and his family went up against Citigroup in an attempt to buy Aeromexico airline. The bank won with a purchase price of about $250 million after the Saba family’s competing offer didn’t meet the bidding deadline.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought a fraud complaint against Saba Masri and his stockbroker in 2004 for alleged stock price manipulation of T.V. Azteca American Depository Receipts, but those charges were later dismissed. Saba Masri was once the executive president of the T.V. Azteca.The family had ties to New York. In 2006, the Saba family was reported to be building a multi-million dollar home in Gravesend, Brooklyn, an area known for its Syrian Jewish community. At least one report indicates the family was traveling back to Mexico on Sunday after a visit to Brooklyn.