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 kilometres (570 miles) south of the capital Santiago.

2010: Poland’s president Lech Kaczynski

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.

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.

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Pakistan’s history of coups and assassinations

Three killed after plane plunges into Lake Victoria in Tanzania

At least 44 killed in Nepal’s worst air crash in nearly five years