RABAT: Rescuers on Tuesday found the body of a brother of the United Arab Emirates president, four days after his ultralight aircraft crashed into a Moroccan lake, investigators said.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al-Nahayan was the managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, considered the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund with assets estimated at more than $600 billion (445 billion euros).
A team of Moroccan and French divers found the body, the investigator said, asking not to be named.
The pilot, a Spanish national, survived Friday’s crash into the artificial lake created by the Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah dam and was taken to hospital, where he was in stable condition.
Sheikh Ahmed was a younger brother of Emirati President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahayan, who is also the ruler of Abu Dhabi, although he was not in the immediate line of succession for the throne of the oil-rich emirate.
He has a home in the area where the ultra light crashed near the Moroccan capital Rabat, frequented by members of the family.
Dozens of divers from various countries, including Morocco, France, Spain, the UAE and the United States took part in the rescue effort.
A Moroccan source close to the probe said at the weekend that the search had been complicated by recent heavy rain that had left water levels high and swamped surrounding areas.
The sheikh’s body was taken to a family residence near the lake, rescuers said, and was to be taken to Rabat for administrative formalities before returning home to Abu Dhabi.
Sheikh Ahmed’s funeral will take place in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI sent a message of condolences to Sheikh Khalifa following the discover of his brother’s body.
