Tragedy at a Bordeaux vineyard

A Chinese tea and hotel tycoon and three other people were feared dead Saturday after the helicopter in which he was surveying his newly-purchased Bordeaux vineyard crashed in the Dordogne river in southwestern France.

Lam Kok, the 46-year-old head of the Hong Kong-based Brilliant group, was surveying his 65-hectare (160-acre) new property in a helicopter piloted by the former owner, French entrepreneur James Gregoire, when the accident happened Friday.

The body of Lam Kok’s 12-year-old son was recovered late Friday and there was little hope that the other passengers could have survived. On Saturday, four dinghies were scanning the water near the site of the crash as divers went under and police dogs combed the river bank, an AFP photographer reported.

Officials from the French gendarmerie -- a paramilitary police force -- said mangled parts of the chopper's fuselage had been retrieved but said strong currents were complicating the search for the three missing people.

'Scared of helicopters’

The owner of the Brilliant group had celebrated his purchase of the Chateau de la Riviere, one of the region's oldest estates, with a lavish event Friday. After a press conference, an introduction to the staff and dinner, former owner James Gregoire was planning to take his buyer on a short tour of the vineyards and surrounding grounds.

Lam Kok's wife pulled out at the last minute, saying she was "scared of helicopters", said an AFP photographer at the event.

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