Former President of Chile Sebastián Piñera, a billionaire businessman and two-term president, has died in a helicopter crash.
He was aged 74 years old.
Three other persons on the plane survived when it crashed in a lake near the southern town of Lago Ranco.
A post-mortem on Piñera’s remains, found from the submerged chopper, revealed that he drowned.
National mourning has been declared and tributes have poured in.
Piñera was spending his holidays with his family in the lakeside resort of Bahía Coique, 920km (570 miles) south of the capital, Santiago.
Piñera was reported to have had lunch with his friend, businessman José Cox, on the southern shore of Lake Ranco and was heading back to the northern shore when his helicopter ran into problems.
Pinera who served as president from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022, led the South American nation during devastating natural disasters, including the fallout of an earthquake and a tsunami.
He also governed during the coronavirus pandemic and placed Chile among the top five countries for vaccination rates for the illness.
His legacy is marred by violent police repression in October 2019 against protesters who were demonstrating against the country’s education, health and pension systems.
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