Chile launches investigation after five tourists die in national park snowstorm

The Star

Chile’s National Forestry Corporation (Conaf) has launched an internal investigation after five tourists died during a severe snowstorm at Torres del Paine National Park.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00Chile's National Forestry Corporation, CONAF, announced on Thursday that it has

00:09opened an internal investigation to determine what went wrong after five

00:13tourists died in a devastating snowstorm at Torres del Paine National Park. The

00:19victims, two Germans, two Mexicans and one British national, became lost near

00:25the park's Los Peros camp during a powerful blizzard that brought white-out

00:30conditions and wind speeds exceeding 193 kilometers per hour, equivalent to a

00:35Category 3 hurricane. Chilean Air Force helicopters later recovered the bodies

00:41from the remote site, transporting the remains to the legal medical service in

00:46Puerto Natales for identification. The agency, which manages the park, said it will

00:52review how protocols were activated, how communications were handled, and how

00:57search, rescue, and evacuation operations were conducted. Magalani's District

01:02Attorney, Christian Cresosto, said investigators will take statements from

01:06all hikers in the group, CONAF personnel, and employees from tourism company

01:12Verdeque, to reconstruct a sequence of events.

01:15CONAF's regional director, Mauricio Ruiz, also acknowledged that no staff were

01:28stationed at the Los Peros crossing on the day of the incident.

01:34Because personnel had been assigned to polling stations for presidential elections.

01:49Torres del Paine, one of Chile's most iconic destinations known for its dramatic

01:54mountain peaks and subpolar forests, spans about 1,810 square kilometers and draws

02:00hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

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