Hollande, Qatar emir attend Total boss funeral in Paris
President Hollande and the Emir of Qatar attended the funeral in Paris on Monday of Christophe de Margerie, the boss of the Total oil company, who was killed in a plane crash in Russia last Monday.
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The French prime minister, as well as many other French politicians and foreign dignitaries, and IMF boss Christina Lagarde, also attended the funeral which was held in the Saint-Sulpice church in central Paris.
Russian ambassador Alexandre Orlov represented Vladimir Putin, who last week said de Margerie was a “true friend” of his country.
Christophe de Margerie was killed when the private plane in which he was travelling, struck a snowplough on take off at Moscow airport. Three crew members also died in the crash.
Just hours before the crash, De Margerie had met Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at his country residence outside Moscow to discuss foreign investment in Russia, the Vedomosti business daily reported.
Russian investigators said that the driver of the snow-clearing machine was drunk and that his actions, along with "an error by air traffic controllers", appeared to be behind the crash.
The incident is being investigated by the Interstate Aviation Committee, which probes all Russian air accidents, and experts from Russia's aviation agency.
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