(Image source from: thumbor.forbes.com)

West Virginia-based coal tycoon Chris Cline is amongst the seven dead after the helicopter they were traveling in crashed off the coast of the Bahamas on Thursday.

The Governor of Virginia, Jim Justice, confirmed Cline's demise and tweeted, "Today we lost a WV superstar and I lost a very close friend. Our families go back to the beginning of the Cline empire - Pioneer Fuel. Chris Cline built an empire and on every occasion was always there to give. What a wonderful, loving, and giving man."

Today we lost a WV superstar and I lost a very close friend. Our families go back to the beginning of the Cline empire - Pioneer Fuel. Chris Cline built an empire and on every occasion was always there to give. What a wonderful, loving, and giving man.

— Governor Jim Justice (@WVGovernor) July 5, 2019

The chopper was on its way to Fort Lauderdale from the Bahamas when the mishap occurred.

"Initial reports are coming in that a helicopter departed, I think it's a cay near to Walker's Cay, at 2 am and I guess shortly after takeoff it crashed," a daily from the Bahamas, The Nassau Guardian, quoted its Minister of Tourism and Aviation, Dionisio D'Aguilar, as saying.

The death toll has not been confirmed yet.

By Sowmya Sangam