DailyExpertNews
—
Gold’s Gym owner Rainer Schaller, his family and two others are feared after a plane they were on apparently crashed off the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica on Friday, officials said.
The Costa Rican Ministry of Public Security posted on Facebook Friday that a plane en route from Mexico to Limon, Costa Rica, lost contact with the control tower at Juan Santamaria International Airport in Costa Rica at approximately 6:00 p.m. local time (8:00 p.m. ET). while flying over the northeastern area of Parismina off the country’s Caribbean coast.
DailyExpertNews was given access to a copy of the flight manifest from the Department of Public Security. According to the manifesto, Schaller, a German citizen and business magnate, along with four other German citizens and a pilot, were on board the private flight. Among the German citizens were Schaller’s partner, Christiane Schikorsky, and two minors.
According to Martin Arias, the vice president of the Ministry of Public Security, the Coast Guard conducted a search in the Caribbean Sea at 5:00 a.m. local time on Saturday and the remains of an aircraft were found at 5:50 a.m. kilometers from Costa Rica’s Limon Airport.
Arias said the Red Cross has been asked to assist in search and rescue operations.
Jorge Torres Carillo, Costa Rica’s public security minister, tweeted on his verified account on Saturday that the private plane had a “foreign crew” on board and that two bodies have been recovered.
The German Foreign Ministry told DailyExpertNews it is aware of the situation and that the German embassy in the Costa Rican capital, San Jose, is in contact with local authorities for further clarification.
“The embassy is also ready to provide consular assistance to the families of the affected persons,” the German Foreign Ministry said.
Schaller is the founder and CEO of the RSG Group, which includes fitness studios McFit, John Reed and Gold’s Gym.
