Former Chilean dictator Pinochet dies at 91

General Augusto Pinochet, the fierce anti-communist dictator who ruled Chile with an iron fist from 1973 to 1990, died this evening from heart complications, the Santiago Military hospital reported. He was 91.

The brief announcement by the hospital said Pinochet’ condition worsened suddenly and doctors rushed him back to the Intensive Care Unit, from which he had been removed only on Thursday while recovering from an acute heart attack he suffered one week ago.

Relatives and friends of Pinochet were arriving at the hospital.

Pinochet had been admitted a week earlier to the hospital with what doctors described as an acute heart attack.

He underwent an angioplasty procedure in which doctors enlarge the clogged artery to allow restoration of the blood flow to the heart,

Pinochet died at 2:15pm (5.15pm Irish Timr), the hospital said.

Several family members were with him when he died, according to Dr Juan Ignacio Vergara, spokesman for the medical team that had been treating him.

At the time of his death, Pinochet was under indictment in three cases stemming from the massive human rights abuses during his long reign, and for tax evasion.

Although his final years where a constant battle in court, he was never sentenced.

Police deployed a security ring around the hospital. A small group of supporters of Pinochet remained at the entrance. And reacted angrily at people who passed in vehicles and shouted insults at them.

The supporters repeatedly chanted “Pinochet! Pinochet! Long Live Pinochet!” and then chanted Chile’s national anthem.

Several women cried openly.