AFP PHOTO/Ben Stansall

Tributes are pouring in for two Fat Duck chefs who died in a car accident in Hong Kong this week, who were there to cook a series of private meals alongside Blumenthal, pictured in front of his restaurant here.

Tributes from the international food community are pouring in through Twitter and Facebook following the tragic news that two chefs from celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal’s flagship restaurant The Fat Duck died in a car accident in Hong Kong Monday.

The UK restaurant’s senior chefs Briton Ivan Aranto Herrera Jorge, 34, and Swede Carl Magnus Lindgren, 30, better known as Magnus in the kitchen, were killed when the taxi they were riding in was crushed between two buses. More than 50 other people were also injured in the accident.

The pair was in Asia at the invitation of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel where they were to cook a series of private meals alongside Blumenthal.

Meanwhile, since the news broke, the international chef and food community has taken quickly to Twitter and Facebook to express their condolences to the Fat Duck family.

Noma chef René Redzepi of Copenhagen, for instance, tweeted, “Unimaginable – your chefs are your family. Condolences to the families, Heston & team Fat Duck chefs killed In crash.”

Momofuku chef David Chang in New York also spoke for chefs like Daniel Patterson of Coi restaurant in San Francisco, and US food TV personality Tom Colicchio, who retweeted his simple five-word tweet, “my heart is so heavy,” before adding a link to the news story.

Here’s a round-up of some of the messages of condolences from chefs and friends around the world:

“My heartfelt wishes go out to the friends & family of The Fat Duck’s chefs Herrera and Lindgren.”
— Thomas Keller, The French Laundry

“We are truly sorry to hear the bad news. Our Thoughts are with Heston, the Fat Duck team and both families.”
–Mugaritz restaurant in Spain, rated third best restaurant on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to The Fat Duck and their families.”
–Homaro Cantu, Moto and iNG

“My heart and my thoughts are with the families of the 2 young chefs from the Fat Duck & with Heston & the whole team at this tragic time.”
–Raymond Blanc, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons

“Few restaurants have brought me as much unexpected joy as The Fat Duck. My heart aches for their loss.”
–Bloomberg food writer Ryan Sutton