PARIS — The father of Emiliano Sala, Horacio, has died at the age of 58 following a heart attack, the mayor of the village where he lived said on Friday.

His sudden passing comes just three months after his son, Argentina striker Emiliano, was killed when the aircraft he was traveling in came down in the English Channel.

“Horacio’s wife called me at five o’clock in the morning (0800 GMT). The doctors were already there, he never managed to get over the death of Emi,” Progreso mayor Julio Mueller said.

In a statement, Cardiff City said the club offered its “deepest condolences” to Sala’s friends and family.

“They are very much in the thoughts of us all at this difficult time,” a spokesman said.

Emiliano, 28, was on his way to Cardiff City after the Premier League side had signed him for a club record £15million ($19.7million) from Nantes.

The pilot, David Ibbotson, also died in the Jan. 21 tragedy.

Air accident investigators are still looking into why the Piper Malibu plane carrying Sala to Cardiff for his first training session crashed. — Agencies