Around 1:30 in the afternoon (Colombian time), the residents of Lago Ranco, an exclusive tourist area 780 kilometers from Santiago, in Chile, reported a helicopter that had crashed shortly after taking off.
And a few minutes later, the Chilean authorities confirmed that the former president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera. The echo of the news began to grow, so there was uncertainty regarding the fate of the former president.
(Read: The maneuver that Sebastián Piñera would have made to save passengers from his helicopter)
After an hour of the event, The Ministry of the Interior of Chile confirmed the death of Piñera, who was the person who piloted the plane and was traveling with three of his relatives.
The first versions that have emerged are that the former president was in command of the device; However, he became trapped by the seat belt and sank into the lake, from where security services recovered his body.
Even, as the Chilean press revealed, the former president, 74, would have made a maneuver so that the occupants could jump. However, he could not do the same as his relatives.
It also emerged, through the same media in that country, that Piñera had given a strong message to his relatives before the plane crash: “You jump first, because if I jump with you, the helicopter will fall on us all.”
(Also: The businesses that former president Sebastián Piñera had and the fortune he leaves behind)
The hypotheses of the Piñera plane crash
Starting this Wednesday, February 7, Piñera will receive a state funeral that will take place in the Hall of Honor of the Chilean Congress in Santiago, after the president Gabriel Boric declared a three-day national mourning.
The Chilean Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohásaid that Piñera “will have all the republican honors and recognitions he deserves.”
(You may be interested in: Chile: Gabriel Boric sends a heartfelt message to former president Sebastián Piñera)
Piñera's relatives, together with Foreign Minister Alberto Van Klaveren, are expected to establish the details of the ceremony such as the route of the coffin and where his remains will be deposited.
The Chilean Prosecutor's Office investigates the circumstances of the air accident over Lake Ranco. In fact, there are some hypotheses about the unfortunate event.
Sebastian Píñera passed away this Tuesday, January 6, 2024.
One of them is the bad weather conditions, which would have led to an erroneous maneuver by Piñera due to poor visibility.
It is also seeking to establish a death by immersion after not being able to remove the seat belt, as his companions did.
There was also some health problem that prevented Piñera from reaching his destination, which was his summer home in Bahía Coique. There is talk that the former president suffered a heart problem while piloting the helicopter.
The testimonies of Piñera's three relatives who survived the accident will be key to knowing what happened in the helicopter.
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