The wife of Lufthansa’s CEO slammed her SUV into a young woman who was walking across a pedestrian crossing in Sardinia, police say.
Vivian Spohr, wife of Carsten Spohr, is accused of running over and killing Gaia Costa, a 24-year-old babysitter and resident of the island, II Sole 24 ORE reports.
The 51-year-old was driving a BMW X5 SUV on Tuesday around 1:00 pm, with her daughter as a passenger, when the crash occurred, according to the outlet.
Witnesses told police that they saw Costa extend her arm to signal for the driver to stop, but instead watched as the vehicle accelerated, striking Costa, L'Unione Sarda reports.
Emergency services at the scene attempted to revive Costa for around 20 minutes before pronouncing her dead at the scene as a result of severe head trauma, according to reports in Italy.
Those same reports suggest authorities are investigating whether Spohr was using her phone at the time of the incident. Her alcohol and drug tests were negative, reports L'Unione Sarda.
Authorities are considering charges of road homicide, the newspaper added.
The Spohr family had been spending time at a home they own on the island close to the community of Porto Cervo. After the collision, the family returned to Germany.
Carsten Spohr has been the CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG since May 2014. He runs the Lufthansa Group, comprising the business segments of Network Airlines, Eurowings, Logistics, and MRO. They have over 100,000 employees worldwide.
The couple shares two daughters, according to his company biography.
Vivian Spohr's lawyer, Angelo Merlini, stated to the German newspaper Bild: “The exact circumstances are now being investigated. The Spohr family has expressed its deepest sympathy to the victim's family.”
An autopsy on the body of Costa will be carried out on Wednesday, 16 July.
