Sources at Radio Bío Bío have confirmed that the autopsy carried out on the body of former president Sebastián Piñera has revealed that he died of drowning.
It should be remembered that the helicopter carrying Sebastián Piñera crashed on Tuesday in Lake Ranco in southern Chile. He was accompanied by his sister Magdalena Piñera, businessman Ignacio Guerrero and his son, who were unhurt in the accident.
About three hours after the crash, navy personnel managed to recover the former president’s body, which was taken to Valdivia for an autopsy.
Earlier in the day, Los Ríos regional prosecutor Tatiana Esquivel confirmed that the thanatological procedure had revealed Piñera’s cause of death, but as it was an ongoing investigation, it could only be communicated to the family.
“We already have a cause of death. However, since it is a criminal investigation, the family has been informed of the results,” the prosecutor said.
Tatiana Esquivel also commented that “what is coming now” are the expert reports related to the helicopter that was captured in Lake Ranco, “to be able to determine the cause and origin of the accident, to obtain complementary information and to find the dynamics of the facts”.
Minutes later, however, the regional prosecutor of Los Ríos spoke to the media again to confirm that the former president had died of drowning.
For his part, the director of the Los Ríos SML (the public institution in charge of medical and scientific expertise), Hans Lungenstrass, said that the autopsy of Sebastián Piñera lasted about four hours and that toxicological tests, blood and urine samples, and alcohol tests were carried out.