Patagonian blizzard kills five foreign tourists in Chile at the country’s most visited spot

A view of Torres del Paine National Park in Magallanes southern region of Chile on April 16, 2019. Five foreign tourists died and four people were rescued after a blizzard hit the Patagonian Torres del Paine nature reserve, Chile's most visited foreign tourist spot, authorities said. Photo / Ana Fernandez, AFP

Five foreign tourists - two Mexicans, two Germans and a Brit - died when a blizzard hit the Patagonian Torres del Paine nature reserve, Chile’s most visited foreign tourist spot, authorities said today.

The visitors were caught off guard yesterday while exploring the park famed for its granite peaks, glaciers and wildlife - some 2800km south of Chile’s capital Santiago.

Initially reporting two dead and seven missing, regional government official Jose Antonio Ruiz updated the toll to five later in the day.

Four were rescued alive, but Ruiz did not specify their nationalities or their health status.

Soldiers and police joined the search effort in the park designated a biosphere reserve by Unesco in 1978.

In 2024, more than 367,000 tourists visited the reserve and its hiking trails, according to the latest available figures from the Conaf national forestry body.

The weather forecast for Torres del Paine has been for sleet and strong winds, which diminishes visibility for hikers who may stray from the park’s dedicated trails as a result, Juan Carlos Andrades of the Senapred emergency response unit told AFP.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric, in a message on X, offered his condolences to the loved ones of the five who died in what he described as a “tragedy”.

-Agence France-Presse