Chile’s former president Sebastián Piñera dies in helicopter crash

February 7, 2024 - Former President Sebastián Piñera, Chile’s first conservative leader since the end of military rule in 1990, has died in a helicopter crash at the age of 74.

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Piñera was piloting the helicopter when it crashed into Lake Ranco in the southern Chilean region of Los Ríos, where his family owns a summer home, according to local media. Three other passengers survived, including one of the former president’s family members.

Piñera was perhaps best 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.”

In Chile, he was known as a successful businessman whose first term was boosted by rapid economic growth but who was often seen as out-of-touch with the country's fast-changing society.