On Monday night, the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf) led an emergency operation in the Torres del Paine National Park after one person was reported missing, another was found dead, and a third one had hypothermia.

After several hours, now a second one has been pronounced dead, whilst the whereabouts of seven others are unknown. Only one person has been managed to be evacuated.

The latter was confirmed by the presidential delegate of the Magellan region, José Antonio Ruiz. “We have just completed a regional search and rescue operation in response to the situation unfolding in Torres del Paine National Park due to the weather conditions in the Paso Dickson area”.

Tragedy in Torres del Paine, Chile

Allegedly, the victims were undertaking a challenging trekking circuit when they were caught off guard by heavy snowfall and wind gusts reaching up to 193 km/h.

According to the authorities, nearly 30 people are working now on the search for the tourists, specifically between Camp Los Perros and the John Gardner Pass, an area that is known for having difficult access and adverse weather and environmental conditions.

Regarding the nationality of the first three people involved in the tragedy in Torres del Paine, it was first reported that the deceased was a Mexican citizen; the tourist rescued with hypothermia was of Korean origin; while the one that remained lost in the area was a British tourist.

However, given the new information about the two dead people and seven missing, the delegate did not comment on that at the moment, nor on their identities.