Troops Perish in Snow

A freak snowstorm which engulfed a group of young Chilean soldiers on a training exercise in the Andes was yesterday feared to have claimed up to 45 lives, writes Tracy McVeigh.

Soldiers who struggled out of the blizzard which dumped six feet of snow in a matter of hours, talked of having to abandon comrades who collapsed and froze to death. Most were teenagers who began their military service last month.

By yesterday, 14 bodies had been recovered and brought to Chilean city of Los Angeles, leaving 31 missing, presumed dead, said army chief General Emilio Cheyre. 'But hope is the last thing we should lose,' he added.

Cheyre removed three commanders of the regiment from their posts and ordered an investigation.

'The march should not have been started, never, under those conditions. It was the worst snowstorm in 30 years,' he said. 'Those were officers specialised in mountaineering and they should have known better.'

The soldiers were on a march in the Andes on Wednesday when they were hit by the storm. The weather cleared enough by Friday for patrols to search for the missing, but helicopters were not able to join the rescue until yesterday morning.

Private Juan Millar, 18, said it was snowing so hard he could not see: 'At one point, I fell to the ground and nearly fainted. The lieutenant told us to drop our backpacks and save our lives.'

Millar trudged through the snow, as exhausted comrades tumbled into drifts. Corporals pulled some on to sleeping bags, which they used as sleds.

One captain found on Friday, Claudio Gutierrez, refused to come to safety and joined the search. Another 110 soldiers made it to a shelter and are waiting until the weather clears.

Millar is haunted by the what had happened: 'I looked back and saw some comrades fall. The corporals picked them up. But when they couldn't help any more I didn't want to look.'