Confectionery tycoon killed

ITALIAN chocolate tycoon Pietro Ferrero has been killed in an accident in South Africa.

Mr Ferrero was joint chief executive of the Ferrero group, which owns Nutella and Kinder.

Italian newspaper Corriere della Serra reported that Mr Ferrero, 48, had been in South Africa on a business trip, although details of the incident remain unclear. The newspaper quoted a spokesman for the Ferrero group as saying: "The exact events are not known".

Mr Ferrero ran the confectionery group with his brother, Giovanni. Their 85-year-old father Michele - Italy's richest man - transformed the operation into a giant of the confectionery industry.