A Chinese hotel magnate and a French wine entrepreneur were feared dead with two others on Saturday after their helicopter crashed hours after they had agreed the sale of a luxury Bordeaux chateau, reports ABC.
Lam Kok, 46, the owner of Hong Kong-based hotel group Brilliant, bought the 60-hectare Chateau de La Rivière on Friday from James Gregoire, who then took Kok, his 12-year-old son and a Chinese interpreter on a helicopter tour of the property.
Local emergency services said the helicopter crashed in the local river Dordogne by the town of Lugon-et-l'ile-du-Carnay.
One unidentified body was recovered late on Friday and police said more searches were being launched on Saturday.
In a bizarre twist of fate, another previous owner of the property - one of the region's oldest estates - was killed in a plane crash in 2002.
Mr Gregoire bought Chateau de La Rivière, the largest in Bordeaux's Fronsac wine-producing region, a year after that owner's death.
Mr Lam's wife pulled out of the aerial tour at the last minute, saying she was "scared of helicopters".
The accident came at the end of a day celebrating the sale, involving a press conference, introductions to the staff and dinner.
Mr Gregoire then planned to take his buyer on a short tour of the 65-hectare vineyards and surrounding grounds.
When they did not return after 20 minutes, employees at the vineyard contacted emergency services.
Read more of this report from ABC.