Crash Site of Aircraft that Carried Billionaire to His Death Found in Congo

The crash site of the plane carrying the management team of Sundance Resources was located Monday in West Africa. The twin-engine plane was reported missing on June 19. It crashed in a dense jungle in the Republic of Congo, near the Cameroon border. The plane went down about an hour after it took off from Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon. Eleven fatalities have been confirmed; there were no survivors.

Ken Talbot, an Australian billionaire, was among the dead. Talbot was recently ranked as Australia's 32nd richest individual, with an estimated net worth of $965 million, according to The Australian. Sundance Resources is an Australia-based international iron ore company that's currently developing the Mbalam Project in Congo. Talbot served as its non-executive director, and his investment company, Talbot Group, is Sundance's largest shareholder.

'There Were No Survivors'

The Aircraft was located by a helicopter hired by Sundance. A team of 10 French military personnel, including a medical detail, were immediately deployed to the remote crash site by helicopter, according to Sundance Resources. Today, Sundance Resources issued a statement saying: "The Company deeply regrets to advise it was informed at 1645 hours on June 21 that there were no survivors."

The flight was carrying two pilots and nine passengers, predominately from Sundance Resources. The executives were there to conduct high-level meetings with various government representatives of both Cameroon and Congo.

Sundance Resources has confirmed the following executives and members of its board were passengers on the plane:

• Geoff Wedlock, chairman

• Don Lewis, managing director and chief executive officer

• John Carr-Gregg, company secretary

• Ken Talbot, non-executive director

• John Jones, non-executive director

• Craig Oliver, non-executive director

• Jeff Duff, representative of Dynamiq, consultant to Sundance Resources