Sebastian Piñera, a Chilean politician who served as president of the South American nation twice, died on Tuesday after a helicopter he was reportedly flying crashed into a lake in southern Chile.
Piñera’s helicopter reportedly plunged about 40 meters into a lake.
Piñera’s helicopter crashed near the town of Lago Ranco on the shores of the lake of the same name, Chile’s Interior Minister Carolina Toha confirmed to Reuters.
The helicopter, which Piñera was reportedly piloting himself, plunged about 40 meters deep into the lake, Chilean newspaper La Tercera reported, and the former president’s body was recovered from the lake by the Chilean Navy.
Three other people traveling in the former president’s helicopter were rescued by first responders and are alive, Toha said.
President Gabriel Boric has not commented on the death of his predecessor yet.
Piñera, 74, was a wealthy businessman and investor before becoming involved in Chilean politics in the 1990s. Courting votes as a center-right moderate, he became the first right-leaning candidate in 2010 to win the presidency in Chile since the overthrow of far-right dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1990. But his second term, starting in 2018, was marred by mass protests against inequity and riots against the government, which eventually led to Chileans voting in a national referendum for a new constitution, though they have yet to agree on what that constitution should say. .
We value Piñera and his family’s net worth on the day of his death at $2.7 billion. He built his wealth through investments in credit card companies and the country’s formerly state-run LATAM Airlines.