Newscasts - Chile probes five tourist deaths in Torres del Paine snowstorm

Sumitomo Forestry

21/11/2025 09:26

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Source: 'Reuters - General news videos'

Description: Chile's National Forestry Corporation announced on Thursday (November 20) that it has opened an internal investigation to determine what went wrong after five tourists died in a devastating snowstorm at Torres del Paine National Park. Blanch Ancla has more.

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Video Transcript:

Chilean authorities have launched an internal investigation to probe what went wrong after five tourists died in a devastating snowstorm at Torres del Paine National Park. The victims, two Germans, two Mexicans, and one British national, became lost near the park's Los Perros camp during a powerful blizzard. The storm brought whiteout conditions and wind speeds exceeding 120 miles per hour, which is equivalent to a category 3 hurricane. An official confirmed on Thursday that the victims died from hypothermia. A tourist who was visiting the park at the time recalled the situation.

So, I got a panic attack, and I said, I can't go. I'm too scared of snowstorms and everything. And so, the people went, and we waited there to wait if we could go the next day. And at 11:00, the first people returned crying saying people falling down.

The agency which manages the park said it will review how protocols were activated, how communications were handled, and how search, rescue and evacuation operations were conducted. Mauricio Ruiz, director of Chile's National Forestry Corporation for the Magallanes region, acknowledged that no personnel were stationed at the Los Perros crossing on the day of the tragedy.

On the night of November 16, before the 17, we did not have any staff there that day. That day, the two officials who were at the camp went down to the gates of Laguna Amarga. That is, they were inside the park to exercise their right to vote in the elections on the 16.

Magallanes District Attorney Cristian Crisosto said investigators will take statements from all hikers in the group, park personnel and employees from a tourism company to reconstruct a sequence of events. Tourists evacuated from the park amid dangerous conditions have been taken to a hospital for further examination. Torres del Paine National Park is one of Chile's most iconic tourist destinations known for its dramatic mountain peaks and subpolar forests. It spans approximately 700 square miles and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.