Soldiers lost

last updated 8 January 2015

Los Angeles, Chile

Forty-five Chilean soldiers froze to death last week when they were hit by a “snow tsunami” on a march in the Andes Mountains, said the army’s commander, Gen. Juan Emilio Cheyre. The disaster touched off a political crisis for the Chilean Armed Forces, still tainted by the abuses committed under the rule of former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Commanders sent more than 400 newly drafted and poorly equipped soldiers into the mountains despite warnings of severe weather. When the blizzard hit, many officers abandoned their troops to seek shelter. “The miserable villains,” said the uncle of one victim, “are the officers that lived.”