Navy divers found the body of the third mountaineer killed in the avalanche on Saturday, October 17, in Laguna del Inca on Thursday. The lake is next to the Portillo ski resort, in the municipality of Los Andes, Valparaíso Region, high in the Andes and near the border crossing with Argentina.
According to BioBioChile, the hiker had remained submerged in the lake since the day of the accident. The avalanche struck a group of seven mountaineers.
Presidential Delegate Manuel Millones confirmed the discovery. He said teams resumed the search at 9:00 and Navy divers located the body about an hour later, according to ADN Radio. According to T13, the victim's relatives were at the scene when the body was found.
"It has now been recovered," Millones said. He added that teams were preparing to take the body to the Legal Medical Service (SML) in San Felipe. The official explained that the operation resumed because the government had committed to continuing the search for the missing person. The sources do not report the identity of this third victim.
The accident occurred on the afternoon of October 17. The group was crossing the Laguna del Inca peninsula, on its way to the summit of Los Tres Hermanos, when a snowslide swept several of its members into the water.
Before this discovery, Andino Club Pamir had confirmed the deaths of two of its members, Magdalena Acuña Jiménez and Rodrigo Peña Troncoso. On October 19, Radio ADN posted on X that one of the victims was the daughter of Chilean actress Luz Jiménez.
Susana Madrid Nawrath, who was also part of the expedition, survived and has already been discharged from hospital. The sources do not detail the condition of the group's other three hikers. The next step is the examination by the SML in San Felipe, which must confirm the victim's identity and cause of death.
