简体中文
Russian investigators have detained at least one person over the deadly air crash that killed the CEO of French oil giant Total, Christophe de Margerie, and are mulling more detentions and arrests.
"Slovenliness of one person coupled with irresponsibility of others not only caused the tragedy but also undermined the image of the entire country," Investigative Committee (IC) spokesman Vladimir Markin told reporters.
Four French citizens aboard the plane, including de Margerie, were killed in the overnight mishap, which saw their Falcon-50 business jet collide with a snowplow as it was taking off from Moscow's Vnukovo airport.
The IC has detained the snowplow operator and tagged him as the primary suspect, but noted that the man would not be made a scapegoat.
"It is evident that the negligent behavior of the perpetrator was overlooked by the upper management, whose actions or inaction will undergo a proper legal scrutiny. And we do not rule out more detentions in this case," the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Markin as saying.
He added that the IC plans to suspend from duty some airport officials who might hinder the investigation.
French prosecutors have also opened a probe into the death of de Margerie, according to a local news channel.
The Interstate Aviation Committee, the air accidents investigation body in Russia and other former Soviet republics, said it would not open the Falcon's black boxes before the arrival of French experts.
STAUNCH ADVOCATOR AGAINST SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA
De Margerie, 63, who visited Moscow on Monday to discuss foreign investment issues, had spoken against Western sanctions imposed on Russia.
In his last public address, the energy veteran said he did not believe that Moscow could be isolated from the major global economic and political process.
"We are against sanctions in general. I have said it time and again," he told Russia's Foreign Investment Advisory Council, adding that he was speaking both on behalf of the Total and the Franco-Russian Business Council, which he co-chaired.
Russian top officials, including President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, have offered their condolences to the family and friends of de Margerie.
French President Francois Hollande, a personal friend of the businessman, said he was "stunned and saddened" by the news.
Total is by market value the fourth largest among the Western world's oil companies, after Exxon, Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron. It is also one of the top foreign investors in Russia, which accounted for about 9 percent of Total's oil and gas output in 2013.
The company's share price on the Euronext stock exchange dropped 2 percent following the reports from Vnukovo. Enditem
