Before Raisi, other leaders killed in aviation dramas
Men hang a huge portrait of Iran’s late president Ebrahim Raisi outside the Iranian embassy in Baghdad on May 20, 2024, during a condolences service for the president and his entourage, who were killed in a helicopter crash in Iran the previous day. Agence France-Presse
PARIS — Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, whose death in a helicopter crash was announced Monday, is the latest major political leader to die in an aviation accident. Here are some of the best known among the others:
2024: Former Chilean president Sebastian Pinera
On 6 February 2024, former Chilean president Sebastian Pinera (in office from 2010-2014, and then 2018-2022), died in a helicopter accident at Lago Ranco, a vacation site 920 kilometers (570 miles) south of the capital Santiago.
2010: Poland’s president Lech Kaczynski
On 10 April 2010, a Tupolev 154 with 96 people aboard including Polish President Lech Kaczynski and senior political and military figures, crashed while trying to land in thick fog at an airport near Smolensk in western Russia.
There were no survivors. The crash was attributed to bad weather as well as errors by the Polish pilots and Russian air traffic controllers.
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2005: the leader of South Sudan, John Garang
On 30 July 2005, John Garang, the former separatist rebel leader who became vice-president of South Sudan after its creation, died when his helicopter crashed in Sudan on a flight back from Uganda.
2004: Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski
The 26th of February 2004, Macedonia’s president Boris Trajkovski was killed along with eight others when his plane crashed as it prepared to land in thick fog in the southern Bosnian town of Mostar.
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1994: Presidents Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda and Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi
On 6 April 1994, a Falcon 50 transporting Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana and his Burundi counterpart Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down over Kigali by at least one missile.
The attack is considered the spark that unleashed the genocide of Tutsis that left at least 800,000 dead, according to the United Nations.
1988: Pakistani President Zia ul-Haq
Pakistan’s president Zia ul-Haq was among the victims of a 17 August 1988 plane accident near Bahawalpur, in the country’s east.
1986: Mozambique President Samora Machel
On 19 October 1986, Mozambique’s first president Samora Machel died when his Tupolev 134 crashed in the north-east of South Africa.
