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Yesterday morning, Peruvian rescue operations head Alfredo Quintana Figueroa (pictured) provided explanations on the incident.
Stopping on snow bridge possibly proved fatal
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What exactly happened?
On Sunday, two Germans – who were passing along the same trail that proved fatal for Estonians – reported an accident. Returning, they saw a snow bridge broken and thought that somebody may have fallen down.
Meeting two Frenchmen, they were told about four Estonians who had gone before them. The Germans realised an accident may have happened.
We dispatched the initial rescue operations group – five people all in all. They reached the village nearby by 1 pm, but only got to the accident site by 8 pm. There, in a crack they found an Estonian lady who responded to their calls. Three hours later, they succeeded in getting the lady out of the crack – venturing into a place like that is very dangerous, as there are lots of snow cornices (overhanging edges of snow – M. M.).
The lady (Annemai Märtson – M. M.) said the others were stuck under snow. She said the other three fell first, then the bridge, and then she dropped on top of the bridge. The snow covered half her body. But the others were obviously covered fully. Therefore, it is excluded that they have survived.
The others have not been found?
No. They are in the snow.
Is it certain that they have perished?
It’s almost certain as it would be very difficult to have survived so many hours under snow.
Do many accidents happen in that place?
On the trail that they climbed, there are usually no accidents. Possibly, the snow bridge broke.
Is a bridge braking very unusual?
It is not, but usually the bridges need to be crossed very quickly. According to Ms Märtson, all three stopped for a moment on the bridge. The bridge cracked under their weight. If one is not careful on a snow bridge, it may crack. So usually we cross a bridge one by one. They probably went to the bridge all three together, as Ms Märtson said.
Is the place very famous in Peru?
It’s quite a classic trail. Many people use it to reach the top of the high mountains.
It takes some experience to climb that mountain one one’s own.
Not much, then?
No.