On October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed among the snow-capped Andes Mountains. It was en route to Santiago, Chile, and was carrying 47 passengers, including 19 members of the Old Christians rugby team. This story, known as Tragedy of the Andes this is the one that counts The Snow Society movie Netflix directed by Juan Antonio Bayona which, due to its success, reminds us of this event which shocked the world.

National and international media reacted quickly to the news, transforming the expectation into a collective feeling. Not only the families of the passengers were waiting for news, but also the public from all corners, who saw in the young people a son, a cousin or a brother.

Of course, the media coverage has not been without its critics. The press was judged by the insensitivity And sensualism of the informative treatment and, above all, for the way in which he presented the concept of anthropophagy.

Today, These archives are an additional contribution to analyzing the tragedy from the point of view of the time. marked by the political events of the government of Salvador Allende, by the Cold War and the youth revolutions.

As noted, it was the October 13 that the Uruguayan plane hit the Andes mountain range. However, the news did not flow as quickly as today. It was the next day, on October 14, 1972, Chilean and international media reported the fact .

“A plane with 47 people was lost in Curicó” » headlined La Tercera. On an inside page, a text gives the chronology of the plane’s journey, up to the moment when the tracks are lost. In addition, it indicates the start of the search, without results.

In the accident, 13 people died and during the first night, 3 more died, facts unknown to the press.

On Sunday October 15, while searching, the survivors saw three planes passing. During, The world has no news of the passengers of Flight 571 and speculation begins about the ship’s whereabouts.

On October 16, La Tercera published a note entitled: “The missing Uruguayan plane would be covered in snow” . According to the news, Research units follow in the footsteps of Camilo Figueroa , worker at the Vergara mine. According to his statement, he saw the Uruguayan military plane fall to the ground with its engines on fire, inside the Tiburcio pass.

However, The search was unsuccessful and the next day it was confirmed that the evidence was false.

“The Uruguayan plane left with damage,” headlines a short article published on October 18, 1972 in La Tercera. . After unsuccessful searches, they began to investigate the causes of the accident. “It was precisely at 2:24 p.m. that the pilot informed ‘Los Cerrillos’ that due to machine problems had to come down from the position he was in: six thousand meters high,” the page reads.

The search continued on October 20, according to the same newspaper, a week after the disaster. “The air rescue service has said it will continue to search for the aircraft for as long as necessary,” he said.

At the top of the mountain range, on October 22, 1972, the survivors faced a critical moment. Exhausted, without sufficient food reserves and facing extreme high mountain conditions, they decided to take the bodies of their deceased companions as food. But this will not be known until much later.

Meanwhile, on the 23rd, La Tercera announced the suspension of the search. “The Search and Rescue Service (SAR) of the Chilean Air Force announced that it had ended search operations, after eight days of unsuccessful air and ground operations. . In other words, they were considered dead.

It was on December 20 that Roberto Canessa and Fernando Parrado spotted the mule driver Sergio Catalán, who went to the police barracks the next day to give his opinion. Incredibly, some Uruguayans remained alive.

It will then be on December 22 that the news will be announced. On the cover of La Tercera it was titled: “Miracle: There are 16 survivors” . In its interior pages, the media detailed that cars were traveling from the capital to San Fernando, with relatives of the members of the plane, and there began efforts to rescue the 14 remaining companions.

International media also covered the news. the Chroniclefrom Argentina, and The sun of Tampicoof Mexico, published the discovery of the survivors on the cover.

“God saved us! They are the survivors. Dramatic story and photos » says the cover of La Tercera 23. So, in four pages The most important national news was covered.

The cover was created based on research , which was cataloged as one of the most important rescue missions of the last fifty years by the Chilean Air Force. Furthermore, The names of the eight Uruguayan citizens rescued first were given.

The words of the Uruguayan diplomat of the moment, Cesar Chalone occupy an important place in one of the plans: “We are witnesses to a miracle never seen in the world…” .

Furthermore, he stated information that, over the days and years, would be denied. According to the authority, the passengers survived thanks to the food they carried in their equipment and the fact that they slept inside the plane, whose lights were on at night.

National Television of Chile ( TVN ) also followed the case. The images remain on the site for 24 hours, where you can see and hear the notes alluding to the subject. The public channel registered since news of the discovery until the words of the Minister Secretary General of the Subrogator Government at the time, Arsenio Poupin Who condemned the media for their sensationalism.

Members of the La Tercera de La Hora team visited the Maitenes sector where they were able to contact Roberto Canessa and Fernando Parrado, the two young people who separated from the group to get help.

“We have always trusted in God” said a hungry Canessa. He later recounted the accident and the weather difficulties in detail. “The night caught up with us and we fell exhausted, we took out what we could, the seats, the mattresses for the injured, then we decided that we had to face the situation as best as possible and we had confidence in the relief. We remove the dead and we locate the injured “, said the 19-year-old, according to the pages of La Tercera.

He also recounts how he and Fernando Parrado, Antonio Vizintín were chosen to ask for help in Chile.

The Argentinian newspaper Bugle He also devoted several pages of his deliveries to describing the accident and the young people’s days in the snow. As “Christmas miracle in the Cordillera “, headlines one of their articles, where they also describe the joy felt in Uruguay when citizens heard the news.

Meanwhile, in the courtyard of the San Juan de Dios hospital, six of the hospitalized: Parrado, Canessa, Fernández, Strauch, Algorta and Páez, met the Chilean, Argentine and Uruguayan press.

La Tercera continued to devote its front pages to this affair. “From White Hell to a Merry Christmas” was the cover of the December 24 edition. In its pages, we affirmed what was known until then: the men were fed with an herbal broth. The article, written by special correspondents Raúl Peña and Tito Valdés, reports that The 16 survivors removed lichens and fungi from the rocks. It was José Luis Inciarte, flora and fauna technician, who discovered these foods.

On December 26, doubts about the survival of the 16 young Uruguayans were dispelled. “Macabre toll of survivors. They reveal the enigma that allowed them to live” says the owner of the La Tercera slice. However, it was previously explained that the bodies of those who died in the accident would be buried in a mass grave at the same site of impact.

Then the details of the report were revealed, in which the athletes allude to cannibalism. “Confidential report reveals existence of cannibalism at 4,000 meters altitude” , we read in the title. The words of psychiatrist Jorge Sepúlveda soften the impact, as he explains the complexity of the context and the psychological and physical repercussions of this fact for Uruguayans.

In the days that followed, the debate erupted in the pages of newspapers, both national and international. Was what they did ethical? On the part of the Church there was no theological opposition, in fact, the priests and the Vatican justified the actions of the Uruguayans. “The body must have a dignified place and In the case of those killed on the Uruguayan plane, this place was to serve as food for the survivors. said Salesian priest Tomás González, in words to The third. From the point of view of public opinion, the decision was justified as an “imperative necessity in an inhospitable environment”; and even the legal world has spoken out explaining that there was no crime in the actions in the Sierra.

The arrival of rugby players in their country was a cause for joy. On December 28, the group left Chile, an emotional moment that remained in the pages of La Tercera the next day. “He was dismissed in Pudahuel by a large number of Chilean friends and compatriots who were waving flags of their country,” the newspaper reports.

With the arrival in Montevideo, The young people held a press conference where everyone’s speculations were confirmed. “One of them, regarding the food, said that once everything was eaten on the plane, They had to feed on the bodies of the deceased “, says the newspaper. The words of Francisco Delgado remained forever engraved on the middle pages: “If Jesus at the Last Supper shared his body and blood, we had to do the same in order to survive. » .