CEO of Total, Christophe de Margerie, dies in plane crash

Christophe de Margerie, the chief executive of French oil company Total, was killed last night when his corporate jet crashed into a snowplough at Moscow's Vnukovo international airport and burst into flames.

Three crew members on board the flight also died in the collision, which occurred as the Dassault Falcon business jet tried to take off at about midnight local time. According to Russian investigators, the driver of the snow plough was drunk at the time of the accident.

Airport spokeswoman Elena Krylova confirmed the accident in a statement to the press: "Tonight a plane crashed when it collided with a snow-clearing machine," Krylova said. "Three crew members and a passenger died. I can confirm that the passenger was Total's head De Margerie."

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A statement from the energy company said: "Total confirms with deep regret and great sadness that chairman and CEO Christophe de Margerie died just after 10pm (Paris time) on October 20 in a private plane crash at Vnukovo airport in Moscow, following a collision with a snow removal machine."

French prime minister Manuel Valls described Margerie's death as a "huge loss" to France and the world of business. "France is losing an extraordinary business leader who turned Total into a world giant. France is losing a great industry captain and a patriot."

Vnukovo airport said that at the time of the accident, visibility was 350 metres. Moscow had its first snowfall of the year on Monday, The Guardian says. Moscow transport investigators immediately opened a criminal probe to examine whether airport staff had been negligent in causing the deaths through breaches of aviation safety rules.

De Margerie joined Total after he graduated from Paris's Ecole Superieure de Commerce in 1974. He spent his entire career at the company, where he became known affectionately as "Big Moustache".

Total is "an important player" in the Russian energy trade, the BBC says, and De Margerie was a firm supporter of maintaining ties, despite recent western sanctions against Moscow over its interventions in Ukraine.

Total is not thought to have a succession plan in place, but Philippe Boisseau, the head of Total's new energy division and Patrick Pouyanne, president of the company's refining and chemicals division have been named as possible replacements.