SANTIAGO, Chile: A billionaire tycoon and Chile’s former president Sebastian Pinera died Tuesday in a helicopter crash, a statement issued by his office said.
He had twice held the South American nation’s top job.
“It is with deep regret that we announce the death of the former president of the Republic of Chile,” the statement said, adding that 74-year-old Pinera died in the popular vacation spot of Lago Ranco, about 920 kilometers south of Santiago.
The incident plunged the country he led for two terms into mourning and prompting an outpouring of condolences from Latin American leaders.
Interior Minister Carolina Toha confirmed the death of the 74-year-old former president, who held office from 2010 to 2014 and 2018 to 2022.
Three other passengers survived the helicopter crash in the southern city of Lago Ranco. Piner’s body has been found, Toha said.
Pinera, also a successful businessman, oversaw rapid economic growth and a sharp drop in unemployment during his first presidency from 2010 to 2014, at a time when many of Chile’s trading partners and neighbors faced significantly slower growth.
His second presidency from 2018 to 2022 was marked by violent protests against inequality that led to accusations of human rights abuses and ended with the government promising to draft a new constitution.
Pinera also oversaw the country’s pandemic response to COVID-19, which included one of the fastest vaccination rates in the world.
One of the highlights of his first administration, often talked about by Pinera himself, was the spectacular rescue in 2010 of 33 miners who were trapped under the Atacama desert. The event became a worldwide media sensation and was the subject of the 2014 film “The 33”.
Sebastian Pinera, the son of a prominent centrist politician, was a Harvard-educated economist who made his fortune introducing credit cards to Chile in the 1980s.
