Bouygues death denied by French industrialist's group

French conglomerate Bouygues today denied the death of its CEO Martin Bouygues.
"Bouygues categorically denies that its chairman and CEO Martin Bouygues has died and deeply regrets that such a rumour has been allowed to spread," the group told AFP in a statement.
The TF1 television channel, which is owned by Bouygues, also denied the 62-year-old businessman's death.
Questioned earlier by AFP about reports of his death, the mayor of the village of Saint-Denis-sur-Sarthon, nearby a property owned by Martin Bouygues in the northwestern Orne region, had announced the tycoon's death.
AFP reported the erroneous information but immediately withdrew the reports following the denials.

"We take this incident very seriously and are carrying out an investigation among editorial staff to understand how such an error could have been made," AFP's global news director Michele Leridon said.
"We offer our humblest apologies to Martin Bouygues, his loved ones, his group and all our clients," she added.