UpdateHong Kong-based billionaire Kok Lam feared dead in French helicopter crash
River search for billionaire Kok Lam and two others after 12-year-old son killed as they flew over Bordeaux vineyard to view new purchase
A billionaire Chinese businessman is missing presumed dead and his 12-year-old son confirmed to have died in a helicopter crash in France's Bordeaux wine region - just 24 hours after they celebrated the €30 million (HK$318 million) purchase of a chateau and vineyard.
A search was continuing last night for Hong Kong-based mainland tycoon Kok Lam, 46. He is thought to have died along with the former owner of the Chateau de la Riviere vineyard, James Gregoire, who was at the helicopter's controls when it crashed into the Dordogne River on Friday night.
The body of Kok's young son was pulled from the river on Friday. An interpreter who was on board is also missing presumed dead.
Hours earlier, Kok and his wife Lau Sheng-wan - also known by her Putonghua name Liu Xiang-yan - were pictured toasting their purchase of the vineyard with Gregoire and his wife. Lau reportedly decided at the last minute not to fly as she is afraid of helicopters.
The tragedy was given even greater poignancy when it emerged that a previous owner of the sprawling 65-hectare estate - the largest in Bordeaux's Fronsac wine-producing region - died in a plane crash in 2002.
Kok heads the Hong Kong-based Brilliant Group and is a member of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.