4 Die In Dominican Helicopter Crash

Hotel tycoon Howard "Butch" Kerzner was among four people killed Wednesday when a helicopter they were traveling in crashed into a building on the Dominican Republic's north coast, an aviation official said.

Kerzner, chief executive officer of Kerzner International Holdings Ltd., a Bahamas-based casino and resort operator, was in the helicopter when it went down at 2:15 p.m. in the popular tourist resort of Sosua, said Yolanda Manan, a spokeswoman for the Dominican airport authority.

"It is with great sadness that the entire company mourns the tragic loss of Butch Kerzner," Kerzner International said in a statement.

Butch Kerzner's father, Sol Kerzner — a South African casino tycoon who is chairman of Kerzner International's board, was en route to the Dominican Republic, the statement said.

Kerzner, 42, was surveying potential development sites when the helicopter crashed on the roof of a business that grows ornamental plants.

Two officers in the Dominican armed forces, David Rosario Pimentel and Kevelier Matos, and a third unidentified passenger also died in the crash, said civil aviation spokesman Angel de la Rosa.

A commission was investigating the cause of the accident.

Kerzner International operates casinos in countries including Dubai, the Maldives, Mexico and Mauritius as well as the Bahamas' Atlantis resort.