Of the 45 passengers on Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, only 16 escaped alive. Photo: LR/Clarín composition
In 1972, the whole world marveled at the feat of a group of young people, members of the rugby team Old Christians Club from Uruguay, receive. For more than two months they struggled to survive after the plane taking them to Chile crashed in the freezing climate of the Andes. The impact of this story was so great that the cinema soon featured it in films such as: “You live!”either “The Snow Company”.
The same protagonists of the tragedy in the Andes had the opportunity to tell their story of survival, as in the case of Roberto Canessa, who published his book “I had to survive”. What happened to the remaining survivors of the fateful crash of Flight 571? Uruguayan Air Force51 years later?
Tragedy in the Andes: What happened after the rescue?
On December 22 and 23, 1972, the more than 70 days in which the 16 survivors of the Andes tragedy remained lost came to an end. Thanks to the support of the Chilean authorities, the group was able to be expelled from this remote area Sergio Catalana muleteer who helped discover their whereabouts and notify the authorities.
The young people had to receive emergency care Santiago de Chile, as they had fractures, dehydration and malnutrition. Witness statements from the time even reported that some had lost up to 40 kilos in weight.
They also had to deal with a lot of media attention, particularly due to the controversy over having to feed on the corpses of their deceased friends.
Some of the survivors of the Andes tragedy reunited years later. Photo: Clarin
What happened to the survivors of the Andes tragedy?
Javier Methol He was 36 years old when he and his wife boarded a plane that crashed into the Los Angeles mountain range. To the. Although he was widowed a few days after the accident, the other survivors emphasized that he was always ready to encourage them to get out of the situation.
After his rescue, he founded and led the Viven Foundation, in which he told his story. He died in 2015 at the age of 79 as a result of cancer.
Javier Methol died in 2015 as a result of cancer. Photo: Snow Society
Roberto Canessa At 19, he was one of the youngest in the group. Since he was studying medicine, he was the one who looked after the other survivors. Also together with Fernando Parrado He began looking for help, which ultimately led to saving their lives. After the accident, he continued his career and became a renowned pediatric cardiologist.
Roberto Canessa continued to play for the national rugby team. Photo: Snow Society
Fernando 'Nando' Parrado He was 22 years old when he got lost in the middle of the Andes. Although he survived the accident, the same did not happen to his mother and sister, who accompanied him to the rugby match they would be attending chili.
Fernando Parrado lost his mother and sister in the accident in the Andes. Photo: Snow Society
After the accident of Flight 571 Uruguayan Air Force, he dedicated himself to the world of automobiles and took part in several races. He later devoted himself to television and gave motivational speeches.
Carlos Paez He was the youngest of the entire group, 18 years old at the time. His father, the artist Carlos Paez Vilaroundertook a series of trips and collections to find out his whereabouts when the plane crashed.
After the accident, he got into drug problems, which he admitted were as difficult to solve as escaping the Andes.
Carlos Páez wrote books such as “After the 10th” and “The Mountains of the Soul”. Photo: Snow Society