Former Vale chief Agnelli killed in Brazil plane crash

The former chief of Brazilian mining giant Vale, Roger Agnelli, was killed in a plane crash along with his family and flight crew in northern Sao Paolo on Saturday.

Agnelli, his wife and two children were among the seven killed when his plane hit two homes minutes after taking off from an airport in northern São Paulo.

Agnelli, 56, turned Vale from a state-owned enterprise to one of the world's major players on the mining stage. He won the top job in 2001 after 19 years as an investment banker with Banco Bradesco.

A good working relationship with former Brazil president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva soured when Agnelli fired 2,000 workers in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008. He was eventually forced out by current President Dilma Rouseff when she took power in 2011.