Billionaire killed by train

Berlin - German billionaire Adolf Merckle, who was in talks with banks to save his troubled industrial empire, has been killed after being hit by a train, German media reports said on Tuesday.

Merckle (74) headed the world's 94th biggest fortune, according to Forbes magazine, with a total net worth last March of $9.2bn.

But he lost heavily last year after a bet on Volkswagen shares went the wrong way, forcing him into talks with banks to save his industrial empire, which included holdings in the cement, machinery and drug industries.

The Die Welt daily cited on its website a police spokesperson in Ulm near where Merckle lived as confirming that a dead man had been found on the train tracks but he gave no details on his identity.

- AFP