The Chilean government has announced that former President Sebastián Piñera has died in a helicopter crash in the south of the country.
Interior Minister Carolina Toha confirmed the death of the 74-year-old interior minister, who served as prime minister from 2010 to 2014 and from 2018 to 2022.
Three passengers survived after a helicopter crash in the town of Lago Lanco. Toja said Piñera’s body had been recovered.
A successful businessman, Piñera oversaw rapid economic growth and a sharp decline in unemployment during his first term as Chile’s first president, at a time when many of Chile’s trading partners and neighbors were facing economic hardship.
His second presidency 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.
Piñera also oversaw Chile’s coronavirus response, including the world’s fastest vaccination rate.
One of the highlights of his first administration, which Piñera himself frequently touted, was the successful rescue of 33 miners trapped under the Atacama Desert in 2010. The event became a global media sensation and the subject of the 2014 film The 33.
Piñera married Cecilia Morell and had four children.
