Romanian Billionaire and Family Perish in Plane Crash over Milan

Romanian billionaire Dan Petrescu, his wife, son and other five friends died on Sunday when their plane crashed near Milan, Italy, and burst into flames. The Pilatus PC-12 was being flown by Petrescu himself as the aircraft's owner.

The small plane took off from Milan's Linate airport to Olbia in Sardinia, where Petrescu lived, and crashed only five minutes after takeoff at San Donato Milanese, a town of about 30,000 people southeast of the capital of Lombardy. It caught fire after crashing into an empty office building undergoing renovation.

Italian media named the victims as Petrescu, 68, his wife, Dorotea, 65, their son, Dan Stefan, 30, Filippo Nascimbene, 33, his wife, Claire Stephanie Caroline Alexandrescu, their son, Raphael, Miruna Anca Wanda Lozinschi, Claire Stephanie Caroline's mother, and Julien Brossard, 36, a Canadian friend of Dan Stefan Petrescu's.

Petrescu was one of the wealthiest Romanians and had dual citizenship, Romanian and German. His wife had French citizenship, and their son Dan Stefan, born in Munich, had dual citizenship like his father, German and Romanian.

The Romanian consulate in Milan said it was ready to provide any assistance, such as on facilitating the repatriation of the dead bodies and issuing death certificates.

Petrescu had a vast fortune estimated at 3 billion euros, with businesses in real estate and others. He was the owner of several hypermarkets and shopping malls.

He was also a very private person, according to Romanian media, and lived discreetly, driving old cars, dressing modestly and sometimes flying ordinary class like any other regular passenger.

Nicknamed the "shadow billionaire", he was billionaire Ion Tiriac's business partner immediately after the Romanian...