A tragic death… an “adventure” that cost the life of a senior Audi executive (photos)

A top chairman of luxury carmaker Audi has fallen 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) to his death in a climbing accident near the Italian-Swiss border.

According to a report on the British website “Metro”, the head of Audi’s Italian operations, Firezio Longo (62), who describes himself as a mountaineer, was trying to climb Mount Sima Bair in the Adamello Mountains in northern Italy, but his foot slipped near the summit, and he fell and died immediately.

Mr Lungu’s body was recovered by a helicopter team and flown to a hospital in the nearby town of Karisulu.

An investigation has been opened into his death and the date of his funeral will be announced once his body is handed over to his family.

Longo was born in Rimini in 1962 and graduated in political science.

He began his career in the automotive industry at Fiat in 1987, where he worked in marketing before taking over the management of the Lancia brand in 2002.

He joined Audi in 2012 and became the company’s director of operations in Italy a year later.