The remains of former president Piñera arrive at the former Congress to be buried

The funeral procession with the mortal remains of the former president of Pepper Sebastian Piñerawho died this Tuesday in a plane crash, arrived at the former headquarters of Congress, in the center of the Chilean capital, where he will be buried and receive a final farewell from Chileans before the state funeral scheduled for Friday.

The coffin, which delayed his departure from the airport Chile Santiagowhere he arrived this morning from the city of Valparaisoarrived escorted by the Military Police of Carabiniers and numerous vehicles with relatives It is relativesand amid screams and tears from dozens of people who waited, despite the intense heat, outside the building.

READ TOO: What is known about the helicopter crash in which former Chilean president Sebastián Piñera died

The coffin, wrapped in the flag of Pepperwas solemnly introduced into the ancient Congress national on the shoulders of a gala group of the number 1 presidential escort of the military corps Grenadiersto the rhythm of a military funeral march, and amidst the overwhelming silence of the dozens of people who gathered outside, waiting for the wake.

In mid-morning, the lifeless body of Sebastian Piñerawho was piloting the damaged helicopter, had arrived from Lake Rango, the site of the accident – 800 kilometers south of the capital – and was traveling on board a plane coming from Chilean Air Force (FACh) and disembarked at the Group 10 hangar at Santiago airport, where he was received with honors by the president Gabriel Boric and several of his ministers.

The coffin, covered with a Chilean flag, was removed from the plane by uniformed officers from the FAChwhile a military funeral hymn played, and transported a few meters in a wooden carriage, escorted by his children and some of his grandchildren, to a car.

Pinera’s wife, Cecilia Moreltraveled by plane with part of her family and was warmly hugged by Boric upon arrival at the airport.

In the old headquarters of National Congressthe former ruler will first be mourned by his family and his closest collaborators in private and in the afternoon the place will be opened to the public so that Chileans can say their last goodbye.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Alberto van Klaverenannounced that the state funeral will be held this Friday morning, at Cathedral Metropolitan of Santiago It is, “After the mass, the remains will be transferred to the Memory Park Cemeterybut not before passing in front of The coinwhere a tribute will be paid to him.”

The minister assured that the final details of the funeral are still being determined and indicated that so far “They have no confirmation as to which international leaders will attend the funeral.”

At 3:30 pm local time on Tuesday (6:30 pm GMT), the helicopter he was piloting pineapplealong with three other people who managed to save themselves, crashed shortly after taking off for the Ranco Lakea tourist resort located 800 kilometers south of Santiago, where he used to spend his summers with his family.

The regional prosecutor of Los Ríos, Tatiana Esquivelconfirmed this Wednesday that the cause of the former president’s death was “asphyxiation due to submersion”.

“These forensic data allow us to develop a more likely hypothesis of what the dynamics of this plane crash would have been like. At the same time, there is a technical team in Ranco Lake “which is dedicated to carrying out all respective expert reports”he added.

At the moment no further details will be offered, so it does not appear that the two main versions being considered can be clarified: a technical problem resulting from poor weather conditions in the area, with strong wind and rain, or some physical problem on the part of the president, which would have caused him to lose control and be unable to remove his seat belt.

pineapplewho governed Pepper in two non-consecutive terms (2010-2014 and 2018-2022), he is the second former president to die after the return to democracy in 1990. The first was the Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwinleader of the Chilean transition in 2016.

A tireless politician and successful businessman, with one of the largest fortunes in the region, in 2010 Piñera became the first conservative president to reach office. The coin after the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) and embodied a more renewed right that knew how to exercise some self-criticism over the regime.

The country’s recovery after the devastating 2010 earthquake, the rescue of 33 miners trapped for more than two months in the San José mine, the wave of demonstrations in 2019, the pandemic and the early vaccination against coronavirus are some of the milestones that marked his two Governments.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.