“He was a great man, a very generous and brave man,” is how Magdalena Piñera Echenique described her brother Sebastián Piñera, the former president of Chile who died on the afternoon of February 6 in a plane crash in the Los Ríos region.
The tragic accident occurred around 3:30 p.m., when the former president’s helicopter crashed in the Ilihue sector, after a few minutes of flight. That same night, his body was transferred to Valdivia to continue with the investigative procedures to determine the cause of death and on the morning of February 7, the coffin arrived in Santiago for the State funeral. Preliminary reports indicate that he was unable to remove his seat belt and died of drowning.
MAGDALENA PIÑERA, THE SISTER OF THE FORMER CHILEAN PRESIDENT WHO WAS ON BOARD THE DAY OF THE TRAGEDY
Magdalena Piñera Echenique, known as ‘Pichita’, was one of the three people who accompanied the former President in the helicopter that fell into the waters of Lake Ranco, in the Los Ríos Region. Businessman Ignacio Guerrero and his son Bautista were also on board.
The woman, with a distraught face, was able to give a few words to the press that approached her in Valdivia: “He was a great man… A very generous and very brave man. Thank you so much”.
‘Pichita’, seconds before the Robinson R66 hit the sea, managed to jump with the Guerrero family and they swam to the shore, thanks to a heroic act by Sebastián Piñera.
In that sense, he revealed to El Trece what happened and what his last words from Sebastián Piñera were: “You jump first because if I jump with you the helicopter is going to fall on you.”
According to the Chilean newspaper The Mercurythe politician tried to make a maneuver so that those accompanying him could jump.
Magdalena Piñera managed to save herself thanks to her brother Sebastián (Photo: Mega Noticias)
WHO IS MAGDALENA PIÑERA ECHENIQUE?
Magdalena Piñera Echenique, the youngest of her six siblings: Guadalupe, José, Sebastián, Pablo and Miguel. She is known as ‘Pichita’. She has two children Olivia and Damián.
Studies
Magdalena Piñera Echenique is a historian at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. She completed a Bachelor’s degree in Development Sciences at the Latin American Institute of Social Development, Ilades, and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Institute of International Studies of the University of Chile.
Carrera
Between 1985 and 1990 she was a History and Geography teacher in III and IV Middle School at Saint George School. Between 1990 and 1994 she served as advisor to the minister of the National Women’s Service (SERNAM), and between 2000 and 2003 she was a member of the Steering Committee of CONICYT’s Explora Program.
Until December she served as executive director of Fundación Futuro, member of the Corporation of Friends of the Cultural Heritage of San Francisco and advisor of Comunidad Mujer.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR