PARIS
Criminal negligence was behind the collision between a plane and a snowplow which killed the CEO of Total - the fifth-largest oil and gas company in the world, Russian investigators have said.
The statement came on Tuesday after French oil company Total earlier confirmed the death of its chairman and CEO, Christophe de Margerie, after he was killed when the corporate jet he was the sole passenger in was in collision with a snow-clearing machine at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow the night before.
Russian Federal Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said: "It is already obvious that the cause of the events was not at all a horrific tragic confluence of circumstances, which is how representatives of the airport were trying to present it, but criminal negligence by officials who could not ensure the coordinated actions of airport employees."
He said several officials at the airport were likely to be suspended.
The Investigations Committee of Russia had earlier said the driver of the snowplow was drunk when his machine was in collision with the jet at 11.57 p.m. Moscow time (19:57 GMT) as it prepared to take off.
Driver 'in shock'
However the driver, Vladimir Martynenko, reportedly denied the allegation.
The International Business Times reported his lawyer Alexander Karabanov as having said in a statement that his client was "in shock" and considered himself "guiltless as he followed all the instructions from the dispatcher".
The statement read: "According to his relatives, he was sober in the morning and doesn't drink at all due to chronic heart disease."
"Relatives are afraid that the airport authorities are just trying to make him ultimately responsible to avoid billions in lawsuits which are for sure to follow," it added.
Three crew members of the French Falcon aircraft, all French citizens, were also found dead at the scene on Monday night, Moscow time.
'Captain and patriot'
French President Francois Hollande issued a statement expressing his "sadness" over Margerie's death.
He said: "I always appreciated Christophe de Margerie's independence, his original character and dedication to his country."
"France is losing an extraordinary business leader who turned Total into a world giant. France is losing a great industry captain and a patriot," said French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said in a statement.
French Foreign affairs minister Laurent Fabius described the death of Margerie as "tragic" and "a profound shock to our industry and our country".
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences in a telegram to Hollande, Russian news agency Itar-TASS reported.
'A true friend'
Putin said: "In Christophe de Margerie, we have lost a true friend of the country, we will leave fond memories of him."
He described de Margerie as "a distinguished French businessman who stood at the origins of the major joint projects which have laid the basis for the fruitful cooperation between Russia and France in the energy sphere for many years".
The French authority responsible for safety investigations into civil air accidents - the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses Pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA) - is sending three investigators to Moscow, France Info radio reported.
A Paris prosecutor has also opened an investigation into possible involuntary homicide, France Info reported.
Margerie, 63, became the CEO of Total in 2007 and its chairman in 2010.
Total is declining in the stock market after the death of its CEO.
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