Two renowned British musicians and their baby daughter have been killed in a light aircraft crash in the Swiss Alps.
Acclaimed saxophonist Hannah Goldstein and her husband Jonathan Goldstein, an award-winning composer, were on board the Piper aircraft with their seven-month-old Saskia when it went down near the Italian border.
“We are all devastated by the news of Jonathan, Hannah and Saskia’s deaths,” said a family spokeman.
“We loved them all so very much. They were so happy together and we will miss them terribly. We would ask the media to respect the family’s privacy at this extremely difficult time.”
The family are believed to have been travelling to Italy, having set off from the Vaudois airfield in western Switzerland on Sunday morning.
Their plane crashed less than 90 minutes later and burst into flames above the Simplon pass area, according to an Associated Press report.
The bodies of the pilot, one passenger and a small child were recovered from the wreckage, said the news agency.
Mrs Goldstein, who performed under the stage name Hannah Marcinowicz, was a lauded saxophonist who was a regular at the BBC Proms and had played at venues including the Royal Albert Hall and Royal Festival Hall.
Mr Goldstein, who had many composing credits in TV, film, radio and advertising, also founded a music production company in London whose clients include HBO and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “Our staff are assisting the relatives of a British family who died in a plane accident in western Switzerland and are also in contact with the local authorities.”
Picture credit: Police Cantonale du Valais