Costa Rica confirms German millionaire Rainer Schaller, family on board crashed plane
- Rescue efforts continued on Sunday after two bodies were recovered. The small plane crashed in the Caribbean on Friday
- German newspaper Bild had reported that Schaller, the founder of a chain of gyms, his partner and their two children and another man were passengers on the plane
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Costa Rican authorities on Sunday confirmed that German millionaire Rainer Schaller and his family were on board a small plane that crashed in the Caribbean, as recovery efforts were hindered by bad weather.
Two bodies, of a minor and an adult, were recovered on Saturday, though they have not yet been identified.
A public security ministry source told Agence France-Presse that “Schaller, adult male, 53 years old” and five other people were listed as being on the aircraft that crashed on Friday off the coast of the eastern Limon province.
The German newspaper Bild had reported that Schaller, the wealthy founder of a chain of gyms called McFit, his partner and their two children and another unnamed man were passengers on the plane, citing a company spokesman.
The official passenger list gave the last names of German nationals Schikorsky, 44, Kurreck, 40, and two minors, as well as the 66-year-old Swiss pilot, last name Lips.
Some pieces of luggage and plane wreckage were also found Saturday in the water 28km (17 miles) from the Limon airport, the public security ministry said.
Six feared dead in small plane crash off Costa Rica
Search and rescue operations began after the plane, which was travelling from Mexico, lost contact with a control tower in Limon.
Public Security Minister Jorge Torres said the impact appeared to be “very strong” but that the coastguard was continuing its search.
On Sunday, coastguard vessels departed in the early morning but bad weather complicated the search and it was suspended about 12 hours later.
Authorities said they would re-evaluate the conditions on Monday to decide whether to continue with the search.
Starting in the late 1990s with just a single gym in the German city of Wurzburg, Schaller grew his low-cost McFit chain into the largest fitness group in Europe.
In 2020, his company acquired the major US fitness chain Gold’s Gym, bringing its global footprint to more than 900 facilities on six continents.
Schaller was in the news in 2010 for his role as organiser of the Berlin Love Parade techno festival. A crush at the event killed 21 people and injured more than 500.
Authorities at the time said Schaller’s security failed to stop the flow of people into a tunnel when the situation was already tense at the entrance to the festival grounds.
Schaller fought back against the accusations of wrongdoing, noting that his security concept received official city approval.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
