SANTIAGO – Steve Anderson, the founding publisher of The Santiago Times, lost his life in a car accident in southern Chile.
The 69-year-old was married and the father of a son, a university student. He owned a campsite, located at kilometer 20 of the coastal route to Calbuco, a land he bought in 1987, when he arrived in Chile. In 1991, he founded the online newspaper The Santiago Times, published in English.
A journalist by profession, he was a native of Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States, where he taught in schools, practiced law and was an advisor to a congressman, among other activities.
His car was hit by another vehicle in the Panitao sector of Puerto Montt on Thursday.
He was rescued from the interior of the car by firefighters, and later transferred to a hospital in Puerto Montt, where he died despite the attempts of the medical team.
The captain of the Siat de Carabineros of Llanquihue prefecture (SIAT), Sebastián Muñoz, explained that the vehicle that impacted the leader’s car was traveling towards Calbuco from Puerto Montt.
The body of the victim was taken to the Legal Medical Service for the proper autopsy, while Carabineros were investigating the fatal accident.
Mohsin Abbas, the publisher of The Santiago Times, expressed his profound grief over Mr. Anderson’s tragic death, saying he was in shock.
Stephen Nielson Anderson, originally from the United States, together with a group of neighbors in the commune of Puerto Montt, founded the Chucao corporation, whose objective is the integral protection of the coastline.
From the Corporación por la Naturaleza Patagónica, Marcos Carvajal and partners, expressed their feeling – through a statement – about one of its founding partners, stating that they will remember him for being a defender of nature, as well as a great contribution for environmental institutions.
He was one of the first to oppose the Pocuro project in the Panitao sector and was a member of the Chucao corporation.
