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German tourist dies while skiing down Llaima Volcano
Emergency teams in Chile recovered the body of Ova Diedrichs, a 65-year-old German tourist who died during a ski descent on the eastern slope of Llaima Volcano, within Conguillío National Park in the southern part of the country.
lorraine huber
Diedrichs skied down the mountain alongside two other European tourists and an Austrian mountain guide. At an elevation of approximately 2,700 meters above sea level, he collapsed in the late afternoon. According to preliminary findings, he may have suffered cardiac arrest, but an official determination will be made only after examinations by the forensic medical service and the criminalistics laboratory.
The group arrived at the La Baita hotel on Friday and set out to climb on Sunday morning. After finding that the route to Cherquenco and Los Paraguas was impassable, they chose to enter the mountain via the Pastos Blancos trail, which is not an authorized route.
The National Forest Service of the Araucanía Region said that the group members had not completed the required registration and had not consulted park rangers regarding the terrain conditions and safety procedures. In addition, they entered the protected area after operating hours, thereby bypassing the park rangers' controls.
The mountain guide reported the incident to police in the early hours of Monday, and following the report, a unit of the Police Special Operations Group was dispatched for the rescue. Unit personnel reached the body after 5 p.m., but due to the steep terrain and low temperatures, it was not possible to deploy a helicopter.
The rescuers carried the body down the mountain on foot and reached the base at around 8 p.m. From there, it was transferred to a facility in the city of Temuco.
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