Member-only story

No Regrets Resorting to Cannibalism; Survivors of 1972 Andes Plane Crash

Starvation Forces Andes Survivors to take Drastic Measures

The Mystique
5 min readFeb 1, 2023

On 13th October 1972, a chartered Uruguayan Air Force plane (Flight 571) carried an amateur rugby team alongside their families and friends from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Santiago, Chile.

The plane crashed in the Andes mountains, near the Chilean border, killing 29 passengers. This crash left around 16 survivors, who had to endure a 72-day wait for a rescue team. 13 of the survivors later died due to an avalanche.

Plane crash in the Andes. Source: Google Images

This two-month wait forced the survivors to take some drastic measures for survival, cutting up the bodies of the deceased and living off of them long enough till they were rescued.

What happened to these survivors, and what is their story? Let’s look at the events that took place 50 years ago that caused the rugby team to resort to cannibalism and how they did so.

What Happened That Caused Survivors To Take Such A Desperate Step?

A rescue mission had been dispatched to rescue the survivors of the crash. Due to the adverse weather conditions, the rescue team could not find the survivors in the snow and assumed they had died. Ten days after the…

--

--

The Mystique
The Mystique

Written by The Mystique

A passionate writer of true crime and unsolved mysteries. I am all about learning and making a positive impact on world.

No responses yet