Wednesday, February 7, 2024 – Chilean ex-President and billionaire businessman, Sebastián Piñera, has died in a helicopter crash at the age of 74.
The helicopter carrying Pinera, 74, and three others plunged
into a lake in southern Chile on Tuesday, February 6.
The former president was pronounced dead shortly after
rescue personnel arrived at the scene. The other three passengers survived.
Two sources told Reuters Pinera was the pilot, although
officials have not confirmed that, nor the helicopter's intended destination.
President Gabriel Boric declared three days of national
mourning, while preparations have begun for a state funeral on Friday for the
former leader, who served two non-consecutive terms between 2010 and 2022.
Interior Minister Carolina Toha said the ex-president's body
had been recovered from the lake, near the town of Lago Ranco.
"We remember him for the way he dedicated his life to
public service," said Toha, who has been helping to lead efforts to battle
deadly wildfires in recent days.
Announcing three days of mourning and a state funeral, his
leftist successor as Chile's president, Gabriel Boric, paid a warm tribute to
Piñera.
"We are all Chile and we should dream it, draw it and
build it together," he said. "Sebastián Piñera said this when he
assumed his second presidential term on 11 March 2018. We send a big hug to his
family and loved ones in these hard times."
Brazil's leftist President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said
he was "surprised and saddened" by Piñera's death.
"We got along, we worked to strengthen the relationship
between our countries and we always had a good dialogue, when we were both
presidents, and also when we weren't," he wrote on X.
Argentina's former conservative President Mauricio Macri
said Piñera's death was an "irreplaceable loss" and he felt
"immense sadness" while Iván Duque, the former conservative president
of Colombia, said he felt great sadness over the death of his friend.
In Chile, he was known as a successful businessman whose
first term was boosted by rapid economic growth.
Pinera was also known abroad for his role overseeing the
spectacular rescue in 2010 of 33 miners who were trapped underneath the Atacama
desert. The event became a global media sensation and was the subject of a 2014
movie, "The 33."
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