MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Tsunami of snow” traps Chilean soldiers in the Andes

The Chilean Army and rescue workers searched for a second day on Thursday for dozens of soldiers trapped in the Andes following a blizzard that killed at least five of them.

Late night Thursday a full rescue operation by land and with helicopter support, weather conditions allowing, were trying to reach an area where 65 soldiers were still missing near the Antuco volcano close to the Argentine border and 600 kilometres south of the capital Santiago.

Early in the day the Chilean Army admitted that 95 soldiers, mostly conscripts were unaccounted for, but the number fell in the afternoon as soldiers were found by professional patrols or hiked out. Most of them were found in mountain refuges in the area which is a military mountain training area.

"Those who are showing up are generally in good conditions. Obviously some of them are wounded from exposure to the cold, but none of them is in serious conditions according to the information we have so far", revealed Colonel Carlos Mezzano to a group of desperate relatives.

The Army admitted having lost contact with the missing but insisted that the officers in command were experienced mountaineers and hoped that the group had stuck together to survive the storm.

The bodies of the five conscripts who died of hypothermia have yet to be recovered.

The Army reported that a total of 443 soldiers from the 17th regiment stationed in the Chilean city of Los Angeles were in the mountains on a strategic exercise when a blinding winter blizzard or "tsunami of snow", uncommon for this time of the year, surprised them.

"A unit of this type surprised by a tsunami of snow is trained to stop, so it is possible that they are all camping, however I do not want to raise false hopes", said Chile's Army Commander in Chief General Juan Emilio Cheyre.

"This is an unexpected situation, but for me a united group offers more hope than scattered soldiers", he added.

Colonel Mezzano underlined that "patrols are in the area and the search will continue as long as necessary".