Czechia's richest man Petr Kellner has been confirmed as one of five people killed in a helicopter crash in Alaska.

Kellner, 56, was on a heli-ski tour in the sparsely populated U.S. region when the aircraft went down near the Knik Glacier on Saturday. One person survived the crash and was hospitalized, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Kellner, who founded the investment group PPF, tended to keep out of the public eye, but was known to be a keen skier. 

PPF expressed in a statement its "deepest grief" at the billionaire's death. He is survived by his wife Renata and four children.

READ MORE

Foreign students in UK want fees refund

How did ship get stuck in Suez Canal?

Where did COVID-19 come from?

Kellner rose to be one of Czechia's most powerful men over the past three decades, initially selling copy machines since1989.

He then set up PPF with partners to profit from the country's vast privatization program, cashing in on the sell-off of hundreds of state-owned companies.

He would go on to amass a fortune worth an estimated at $17.5 billion, according to Forbes. 

PPF later expanded into finance, telecommunications, manufacturing, media and biotech, its assets totaling $51.8 billion by mid-2020.

The company is the main owner of a group of telecoms firms in Central and Eastern Europe, which includes O2 Czech Republic.

It also oversees Home Credit, an early entrant into the Chinese consumer lending market.

Czechia's President Milos Zeman has sought warm relations with China, with Kellner taking part in Zeman's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2014.

A spokesman said Zeman "held Petr Kellner in high esteem for his business success and is immensely sorry for his tragic death."