The former president of Chile, Sabastian Pinera is reportedly dead.
Ex-president Sebastian Pinera of Chile is said to have died in a helicopter crash on Tuesday, 6 February. The helicopter carrying the president and three other associates is said to have crashed into a lake in the Southern Chile region.
The businessman and ex-president of Chile was aged 74 years. The rescue team was fast to arrive at the scene of the crash, however, the president died shortly afterward after being rescued while the other three victims of the accident, survived.
According to Interior Minister Carolina Toha, the ex-president’s body was recovered from the lake near the Lago Ranco.
Chile has declared a three-day national holiday in honor of the memory of Sebastian Pinera who served honorably in two terms from 2010 to 2022. The burial is said to take place on Friday 9th February 2024.
Toha said; “We remember him for the way he dedicated his life to public service,”
Gabriel Boric, his leftist successor as Chile’s president has paid a condolence tribute to the ex-president.
He said;
“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.”
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s leftist President took to X to write;
“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,”
In Chile, he was known as a successful businessman whose first term resulted in rapid economic growth for the people of Chile. He was also known to have built a good relationship between Argentina and Colombia.
