Deadly rafting in Cajón del Maipo - details of the rescue of a nine-year-old child
A fatal river rafting accident occurred in the Cajón del Maipo gorge. The incident involved a group of thirteen people, three of whom died in the water.
One of the rescuers, Lorenzo Andrade, described the search operation for a nine-year-old girl who was caught and carried away by a strong current. According to him, the child was intercepted in time and pulled to shore alive, despite the fact that she did not know how to swim at all.
Context
The Cajón del Maipo Gorge in the Chilean Andes is a major rafting hotspot near the capital Santiago. The difficulty of the rapids on the Maipo River varies significantly depending on the season: while in autumn and winter most popular tourist areas are classified as moderate Class III, during the spring and summer snowmelt in the mountains, the increased water level turns them into technically difficult and turbulent Class IV rapids.