Audi Italy chief Fabrizio Longo dies after a 10,000-ft fall while climbing Adamello mountains in Italy

In a tragic accident, Fabrizio Longo, head of Audi Italy, died after falling 10,000 feet while climbing a mountain in Italy. He was 62.

Fabrizio Longo, who had led Audi's operations in Italy since 2013, was climbing the Cima Payer in the Adamello mountains near the Italian-Swiss border on September 1 when the accident occurred, according to reports. 

Rescue teams rushed to the spot after another climber who had witnessed the accident called for help, reported New York Post. A helicopter rescue team found his body some 700 feet down a gorge, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the New York Post.

Local authorities transported Fabrizio Longo's remains by helicopter to the nearby Italian town of Carisolo. The local administration has started a probe into the incident, the report added.

Who was Fabrizio Longo?

Longo started his career with Italian automobile maker Fiat in 1987 and later led the Lancia brand in 2002. He joined Audi in 2012 and became director of the company's Italian operations the following year.

“Fabrizio Longo has been leading the Audi brand in Italy with enormous success since 2013, confirming the brand’s leadership in the premium segment for 11 consecutive years,” the New York Post report said, quoting a spokesperson from Audi.

The spokesperson described Longo as “a person of great integrity, culture, capability and sensitivity.”

Besides heading Audi, Longo was an avid skier and mountaineering enthusiast. The International Ski and Snowboard Federation also released a statement on his passing.

Previously, in a separate fatal incident in August, British billionaire Mike Lynch died after his superyacht, the Bayesian, sank in a storm off the Sicily coast. Mike Lynch and six other people died in the accident that occurred on August 19. 

Mike Lynch, a prominent figure in the UK's tech industry and founder of Autonomy, Britain’s largest software company, was often called 'Britain's Bill Gates.'