{"id":12410,"date":"2025-04-12T01:58:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-12T01:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/12410\/"},"modified":"2025-04-12T01:58:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-12T01:58:10","slug":"tragic-new-york-city-helicopter-crash-hits-home-in-barcelona-where-victims-were-well-known","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/12410\/","title":{"rendered":"Tragic New York City helicopter crash hits home in Barcelona where victims were well known"},"content":{"rendered":"

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) \u2014 As they sat inside a helicopter shortly before a flight<\/a> over the towering skyscrapers of New York City, Agustin Escobar flashed a thumbs up while his wife and children beamed big smiles.<\/p>\n

A trip that was intended to celebrate their middle child\u2019s upcoming birthday ended up being the final moments<\/a> for the family of five from Spain. Moments later, their sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair and crashed<\/a> into the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey, killing them and the pilot.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Siemens<\/p>\n

Siemens executive Agustin Escobar speaks during a conference in Madrid, Spain, Sept. 5, 2024. (Eduardo Parra\/Europa Press via AP)<\/p>\n

Siemens executive Agustin Escobar speaks during a conference in Madrid, Spain, Sept. 5, 2024. (Eduardo Parra\/Europa Press via AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Condolences poured in Friday for the Barcelona family, including Spain\u2019s prime minister, the company where the parents worked and the school where their children studied.<\/p>\n

Escobar was global CEO of rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, while his wife, Merc\u00e8 Camprub\u00ed Montal worked for Siemens Energy, a separate company. Camprub\u00ed Montal\u2019s grandfather was a former president of the famous Barcelona FC soccer club. <\/p>\n

The children were 4, 8 and 10 years old, and the middle child\u2019s 9th birthday<\/a> would have been Friday, according to New York City Mayor Eric Adams.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnimaginable,\u201d was how Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez described the tragedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe news that has reached us about a helicopter accident in the Hudson River is devastating,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said on X during a state visit to China. \u201cFive members of a Spanish family, including three children, have lost their lives. It is an unimaginable tragedy. I feel for the loss of their loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A crane vessel arrives at the scene where a helicopter crashed into the Hudson River, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo\/Seth Wenig)<\/p>\n

A crane vessel arrives at the scene where a helicopter crashed into the Hudson River, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo\/Seth Wenig)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Classmates shocked<\/p>\n

Students at the Jesuits of Sant Ignasi school in Barcelona\u2019s upscale Sarria neighborhood wept and embraced their parents Friday afternoon, after learning of the deaths of their friends and classmates, as seen by an Associated Press reporter.<\/p>\n

The school held a minute of silence in the morning, Oleguer Bertran, an 18-year-old student, told the AP.<\/p>\n

A father at the school\u2019s entrance said his son had been friends with one of children who perished, and is completely devastated. The man declined to be named.<\/p>\n

The school published a statement on Instagram saying it was \u201cdevastated by the death of a family of our community.\u201d It declined to comment when contacted by the AP. <\/p>\n

\u2018My endless source of energy and happiness\u2019<\/p>\n

Escobar was originally from Puertollano, a small city in central Spain\u2019s Castilla La Mancha region.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to express my sorrow for the traffic helicopter accident in New York that claimed the lives of Agust\u00edn Escobar and his family,\u201d regional president Emiliano Garc\u00eda-Page wrote on X. \u201cIn 2023, we named him a Favorite Son of Castilla La Mancha.\u201d<\/p>\n

Escobar worked for the tech company Siemens for more than 27 years, most recently as global CEO for rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, according to his LinkedIn account. In late 2022, he briefly became president and CEO of Siemens Spain.<\/p>\n

He regularly posted about the importance of sustainability in the rail industry and often traveled internationally for work, including to India and the United Kingdom in the past month. He also was vice president of the German Chamber of Commerce for Spain since 2023.<\/p>\n

In a LinkedIn post in 2022, he thanked his family, \u201cmy endless source of energy and happiness, for their unconditional support, love … and patience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soccer club connection<\/p>\n

Camprub\u00ed Montal hailed from northeast Catalonia, where Barcelona is located. She had worked for Siemens Energy for about seven years, including as its global commercialization manager and as a digitalization manager, according to her LinkedIn account.<\/p>\n

She was also closely tied to the history of the famous Barcelona soccer club. Her grandfather, Agust\u00ed Montal i Costa, was president of the club from 1969 to 1977, and her great-grandfather Agust\u00ed Montal i Galobart, presided over the club from 1946-1952.<\/p>\n

The club has not commented on her death.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash in which Agustin Escobar and his family lost their lives. Our heartfelt condolences go out to all their loved ones,\u201d Siemens said in a statement Friday.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

In this photo taken from video, a helicopter falls from the sky into the Hudson River , Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Jersey City, N.J. (Bruce Wall via AP)<\/p>\n

In this photo taken from video, a helicopter falls from the sky into the Hudson River , Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Jersey City, N.J. (Bruce Wall via AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Doomed flight<\/p>\n

Escobar had traveled to the New York area on business and his family flew in to extend the trip by a few days, said Steven Fulop, mayor of Jersey City. Photos the tour company posted on its website show the family smiling in the helicopter before takeoff.<\/p>\n

Jersey City\u2019s Mayor Fulop said a relative was expected to arrive Friday and officials were working with the medical examiner to release the bodies for transport back to Spain.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press photojournalist Emilio Morenatti contributed.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

This story has been corrected to show Camprub\u00ed Montal worked for Siemens Energy and her husband was employed by a separate company, Siemens Mobility. An earlier version said they both worked for Siemens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BARCELONA, Spain (AP) \u2014 As they sat inside a helicopter shortly before a flight over the towering skyscrapers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[8502,6807,199,8505,51,389,8506,8510,8509,8504,2000,299,4179,8503,8501,7140,7142,5338,8507,8511,104,7685,8508,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-12410","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-accidents","9":"tag-agustin-escobar","10":"tag-barcelona","11":"tag-boat-and-ship-accidents","12":"tag-business","13":"tag-children","14":"tag-corporate-management","15":"tag-emiliano-garca-page","16":"tag-emilio-morenatti","17":"tag-eric-adams","18":"tag-eu","19":"tag-europe","20":"tag-general-news","21":"tag-helicopter-crashes","22":"tag-new-york-city","23":"tag-new-york-city-wire","24":"tag-ny-state-wire","25":"tag-pedro-sanchez","26":"tag-siemens-ag","27":"tag-siemens-energy-ag","28":"tag-spain","29":"tag-spain-government","30":"tag-steven-fulop","31":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114322519146891753","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}