Three mountaineers died after a sudden avalanche swept them into a freezing lake in the Chilean Andes, despite clear warning signs and a security chief’s advice not to proceed.
Snow tore loose around 2:45 p.m. Saturday near the Portillo ski center and drove three members of a private expedition into Laguna del Inca, the icy lagoon below the peaks.
The Sun reported that two bodies were pulled from the water while a third climber remained trapped underwater as crews pulled back under fresh slide risk.
Magdalena Acuña Jiménez, 56, and Rodrigo Peña Troncoso, 36, were identified among the dead. Both belonged to Andino Club Pamir. A third victim was not named. Four other climbers on the same private trip survived, received treatment for hypothermia, and left care without serious injuries.
More than 40 personnel from multiple agencies reached the site. They recovered the two bodies, then suspended the operation because another avalanche could hit the same slope. Search work for the remaining body was paused until Thursday as thick ice, bad weather, and slide danger stacked against the crews.
Los Andes mayor Manuel Rivera said clear warning signs already marked the ground as an avalanche risk and a “death zone.” The posted text left little room for doubt.
"Do not pass. Danger of death. Avalanche zone. Landslide zone."
Portillo’s security chief had also warned the experienced climbers not to push forward at that hour. They were still on the mountain when the snow broke loose.
Acuña Jiménez was the daughter of celebrated actress Luz Jiménez. Peña Troncoso worked as a landscape photographer and was known as an avid climber. Their club remembered both for sporting spirit and companionship.
Andino Club Pamir released a brief statement of mourning.
"We deeply regret the passing of our dear members Magdalena and Rodrigo."
The club added a second note of support.
"We send our support and condolences especially to their families, loved ones and our members."
The European Avalanche Warning Service has said roughly 150 people die in avalanches each year. The Chilean toll sits inside that grim pattern, not outside it.
In August, a separate avalanche in Pakistan killed ten people on a 26,414-foot peak. That slide struck a group led by well-known mountaineer Nirmal “Nimsdai” Purja and took the lives of climbers including Kili Pemba Sherpa, who had summitted Everest 21 times, along with Omani climber Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy, Nepali climber Pur Bahadur Gurung, and American climber Mallory Geis.
High skill and long résumés did not stop the snow there either. The same lesson hangs over Laguna del Inca: steep terrain, loaded slopes, and ignored cautions still end the same way.
Rescuers in Chile now wait on ice, weather, and slope stability before they can finish recovering the third climber. Families wait with them. The signs on the route were already plain. The hour had already been flagged as unsafe. Nature did not negotiate after that.
Warnings exist because mountains do not grade on experience, reputation, or good intentions, and the bill comes due the moment the slope lets go.
