McFit confirms founder Schaller died in plane crash

McFit posted a photo on his Instagram channel of Schaller smiling in a light T-shirt. “The past few days have shocked and touched us,” it sounds. 13 days after the tragic plane crash, it is now clear: the bodies found are Rainer Schaller († 53) and his son. His partner, a child, another German and a Swiss pilot are still missing. The search for other people has since been discontinued.

“We have done everything humanly possible,” said Costa Rican Coast Guard Director Martín Arias. It is not yet clear why the private plane crashed on October 21. The plane was coming from Mexico and crashed into the sea near the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Experts currently believe that a technical problem may have occurred before the crash. That would have left the Walliser pilot alone. Eleven days after the crash, authorities finally called off the search.

Schaller was involved in the tragedy of the Love Parade

Schaller comes from Keyfield (Bavaria), this is also where his RSG Group has its official headquarters. He was born in 1969 in Bamberg and founded his first fitness studio in Würzburg in 1997. He trusted the discount principle in the fitness sector and created a huge studio chain with McFit. RSG Group also includes other fitness brands such as John Reed, Gold’s Gym and Cyberobics. But Schaller was also active in other areas: the group also includes, for example, modeling agencies and the artist management Tigerpool.

Schaller also made headlines as the rights holder related to the 2010 Loveparade disaster in Duisburg, killing 21 and injuring more than 650. As head of the organizers company at the time, he was never investigated. In the subsequent criminal case against employees of the municipality of Duisburg and his company Lopavent, he acted as a witness. In 2020, due to presumably insufficient guilt, the proceedings were discontinued without a verdict. In court in the spring of 2018, Schaller expressed his condolences to the relatives of the victims.

(SDA)