British born publishing heir, 53, and his pregnant wife are killed in Guatemala plane crash
A British-born publisher’s heir died along with his pregnant wife in a plane crash in Guatemala.
Harald Undrum, 53, and his wife, Judith Mazariegos, 26, were aboard the Cessna 182P Skylane that crashed under unknown circumstances Sunday near Villa Hermosa, south of San Marcos.
There was also a football player and a doctor on the plane. All four passengers died tragically.
Undrum was the heir of Christian Schibsted, founder of the Norwegian publishing and media group Schibsted.
His wife Judith’s family confirmed their deaths to Norwegian news outlet Dagbladet.
She was six months pregnant at the time of the accident, a rescuer said on Guatemalan television.
Undrum was born in London before being adopted by the Norwegian Schibsted family. They are known to own major Scandinavian newspapers.
The plane crash occurred on Sunday evening in a mountainous region known as the canton of Barrios.
53-year-old Harald Undrum and his 26-year-old wife Judith Mazariegos tragically lost their lives in the plane crash.
Undrum was the heir of Christian Schibsted, founder of the Norwegian publishing and media group Schibsted.
His wife Judith’s family confirmed their deaths to Norwegian news outlet Dagbladet
Rescue teams from units RD-30 and AD-122 of San Marcos, San Pedro Sacatepéquez arrived at the scene a short time later.
The General Directorate of Civil Aviation said that the accident investigation unit personnel were dispatched to the scene to collect evidence and investigate the cause of the accident.
When they arrived at the crash site, rescuers found the partially destroyed plane and three deceased passengers. They managed to get a fourth passenger out alive.
‘Three dead were found at the scene: two adult males and a pregnant female. A male with multiple injuries was stabilized and transported to San Marcos Regional Hospital, the fire department said in a statement.
But the man later died in the emergency room of San Marcos National Hospital, according to Guatemalan news outlet Soy502.
‘The Guatemalan Army continues to serve the people by cooperating closely with civilian institutions in times of crisis,’ military officials said in a report.
It came just days after a British wildlife expert and Second World War Hurricane demonstration pilot died in a plane crash while searching for wildlife in Namibia.
Professor Alan Wilson, 62, and former airline pilot Neil Oakman, 63, nose-dived into the Namib Desert in a light aircraft shortly after takeoff and died instantly.
The pair were researching Namibia’s national animal, the Oryx antelope, and had spent more than a week at the remote Gobabeb Research Station in Namib-Naukluft National Park with British researcher John Lowe.
Oakman, an experienced pilot, was flying the Groppo-Trail light plane that crashed Wednesday, according to senior air crash investigator Judith Shomongula.
The investigation suggested that Wilson’s plane stalled or lost power while in the air and nose-dived into the desert.
Lowe became concerned when the pair did not return to camp after two hours and decided to search for them, finding the wrecked plane at the end of the Gobabeb runway, 75 miles from the town of Walvis Bay.
The flight is thought to be the last flight under investigation.
Shomongula said: ‘Three British nationals, John Lowe, Alan Martin Wilson (62) and Neil Thomas Oakman (63), arrived in Namibia on 25 February 2026 for research.
‘At around 5pm on Wednesday 4 March 2026, Alan Wilson and Neil Oakman were said to have set out in search of collared wildebeest in the dunes of the Namib.
‘Around 19:00, researcher John Lowe became concerned about his colleagues returning to the research center late, and a search was launched in the area.
‘They later discovered a crashed plane at the end of the Gobabeb runway. The police were notified and the bodies were transported to the Walvis Bay police morgue.
‘We all offer our sincere condolences to the bereaved families.’
