Five Tourists Die in Torres del Paine Blizzard

Five international tourists, including a British woman, died after being caught in a severe blizzard while hiking in Chile's Torres del Paine National Park, authorities confirmed Tuesday.

The victims included Victoria Bond, a resident of Cornwall in the United Kingdom, two Mexican nationals and two German nationals. They were part of a group attempting the challenging eight-day O Circuit, also known as the Paine Massif Circuit, when the storm struck on Monday, November 17. The incident occurred near the John Gardner Pass, the highest point on the route at about 4,000 feet, as the hikers ascended from Los Perros camp around 6 a.m.

A tourist at the camp posted an urgent plea for help that evening in a Facebook group for visitors to the park. "We are at Los Perros camp in the Torres del Paine. People were climbing the John Gardner earlier today and the weather has turned very bad," the message read. "We are snowed in and people are still out on the pass. Very strong wind, 120 mph. We need urgent help, climbers and rescuers are at the risk of dying based on our current situation." The post alerted Chilean park officials around 8 p.m., prompting a large-scale search operation that...