Billionaire former Chilean president Sebastian Pinera dies in helicopter mishap
Sebastian Pinera, former Chile’s president, was killed on Tuesday when the helicopter he was believed to be piloting crashed in poor weather.
The helicopter crashed into the Lago Ranco lake in the south of the country around 3:30pm, shortly after taking off, according to MailOnline.
The report also said that Pinera was not new to the region, as he and his family frequently summered there.
Chile has declared three days of national mourning for Pinera — a Harvard-educated graduate, who was president from 2010 to 2014, and again from 2018 to 2022.
He presided over triumphs, such as the rescue of the 33 trapped miners in the Chilean desert in 2010 after 69 days underground – a feat later turned into a film starring Antonio Banderas and Juliette Binoche.
He also led through turbulence, with rapid economic growth boosting swathes of society, but frequent claims he was out of touch with the struggles of ordinary Chileans.
Both his presidencies were marred by frequent protests.
Despite plaudits for his government’s economic record, many Chileans felt he did not do enough to tackle deep inequality or address inadequacies in the country’s education system.
Pinera is known to be close friends with former US president and wife Bill and Hillary Clinton during his lifetime.
