INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
HNA Group chairman and co-founder, Wang Jian accidentally fell to his death in France
(AFP)Beijing: Chinese tycoon Wang Jian, whose sprawling conglomerate HNA Group owns a host of foreign assets, has died after a falling off
a wall while on holiday in southern France, police and his company said Wednesday.Wang suffered the fatal accident on Tuesday in the
picturesque hillside village of Bonnieux after climbing onto a parapet, either to see the view of the valley below or to have his photograph
taken, local security sources told AFP."He jumped up on to the wall and was carried over it by his own momentum," a source close to the case
told AFP on condition of anonymity.The 57-year-old businessman fell into a 10-metre (32-foot) void, sustaining serious injuries that
emergency services were unable to treat at the site."Together, we mourn the loss of an exceptionally gifted leader and role model, whose
vision and values will continue to be a beacon for all who had the good fortune to know him," his firm said in a statement issued in
China.HNA Group started as a small provincial airline servicing China's Hainan Province but has expanded quickly in recent years under the
leadership of Wang and co-founder Chen Feng.The firm's $230 billion in assets includes a diverse global empire of businesses operating in
aviation, tourism, and finance, and includes Hilton hotels and other marquee companies in the US, Europe and Australia.But HNA came under
pressure last year as Beijing cracked down on the risky debt-fuelled financing that enabled its expansion.The conglomerate has now started
selling off parts of its empire to pay down debt.Wang began his career in civil aviation planning in 1983.Bonnieux is a mediaeval village in
the Provence area of the south of France, a favoured destination for the rich and famous over the peak summer holiday period.(Except for the
headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
