Liberty Mutual Canada VP dies in plane accident

A Montreal-based claims executive with Liberty Mutual is one of eight people who died Sunday after an airplane crashed in Italy.

Julien Brossard, who was Liberty Mutual Canada’s vice president of specialty claims, joined the insurer in 2012.

A Pilatus PC-12 airplane crashed Oct. 3 into a vacant two-story office building outside Milan, according to published reports. Brossard was one of the passengers.

“We are devastated to learn of the tragedy involving our beloved colleague, Julien,” Liberty Mutual Canada president Rob Marsh told Canadian Underwriter. “He was a cherished friend and leader within our Liberty family who greatly touched our lives. We extend our deepest condolences to Julien’s family and friends, and to all who knew him, during this incredibly difficult time. We are heartbroken over this shocking loss.”

Brossard, 35, graduated from a combined MBA and law program at Universite de Sherbrooke, The Canadian Press reports. Brossard was travelling to the Italian island of Sardinia with his partner, Dan Stefan Petrescu, who also died in the crash.

The other victims include Petrescu’s parents, Bloomberg reports.

Brossard was best man at the wedding of Marwah Rizqy, a Liberal member of Quebec’s National Assembly, CP reported.

As quoted by CP, Rizqy remembered Brossard as an extraordinary friend who never spoke ill of anyone and who gave his friends an education on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and on Quebec history.

“He’s my best friend, he’s my psychologist, he’s my adviser,” Rizqy said in an interview with CP. “It’s with him I had the biggest laughs in my life; he was the one who always cauterized my wounds.”

Rizqy and Brossard had met while studying at Universite de Sherbrooke, CP reports.

The PC-12 is a single-engine turboprop, according to Jane’s.

Quoting firefighters, The Associated Press reported that no one other than those aboard were involved in the crash Sunday near a subway station in San Donato Milanese, a small town near Milan.

Feature image via iStock.com/Dragunov1981