Portillo had closed — an avalanche still caught seven at the lake

On Saturday 17 October, at about 14:45, an avalanche caught a group of seven on the shore of Laguna del Inca, beside the Portillo ski area in the Chilean Andes. Three people died and four were hurt. Two deaths were confirmed first; the disaster agency later raised the toll to three.

They were Chilean hikers, not hotel guests, heading toward Cerro Los Tres Hermanos. Portillo’s ski season had ended on 12 October and the lifts were stopped. The resort says the place is outside the open ski area, and signs warn of a risk of death and forbid entry to closed sections. The mayor of Los Andes describes the land differently: the lakeshore is public, so closing the hotel did not close the whole sector, though signs there also warn of death by avalanche. On 19 October La Tercera wrote that it was an open trail and that the forbidden-zone account does not hold.

Portillo’s patrol and police from the Los Libertadores complex were there in about ten minutes and brought four people out. The resort helicopter helped take one person to hospital in Los Andes. The resort says the work was done in very dangerous conditions.

The Los Andes prosecutor’s office named two of the dead: Magdalena Acuña Jiménez, 56, and Rodrigo Peña Troncoso, 30, both of the Andean club Pamir. As of 19 October the third body was still in the lake; the search was paused until Thursday because of the weather. The Valparaíso regional delegate said they are looking for a legal way to restrict people passing through, because of the risk of further avalanches.