Rescue expeditions finally found the remains of a Chilean football club team that vanished on a plane that crashed on 3rd of April, 1961 in the snow capped peak of the Andes mountain near the city of Linares, some 300 km south of the capital Santiago. The rescue team found pieces of the plane that included a propeller, scattered about a rocky slope. “We also found human remains,” says Lower Lopez, the expedition team lead.
The LAN Chile McDouglas DC-3 twin propeller with 24 passengers on board in which there were 8 “Green Cross Soccer Club” players, 3 referees and the coach was found in a very remote and rough terrain at about 3,000 m above sea level. The rescue expedition was abandoned after 2 unsuccessful attempts last year but due to sheer luck they found it this time after nearly 53 years later. The 9 member expedition has to trek on horseback for 2 days traversing rough ravines and streams and spent another 2 days climbing the steep mountain. The return journey was a repeat of the same rigorous travails and expedition. The expedition team leader, Lower Lopez advised that only fit and able bodied surviving family members can make the journey, as several family members desire to make the trip to the site themselves to pay their final respects.
The discovery of the plane have rekindled hope for the relatives who want to give the deceased footballers a decent burial and close this painful chapter of their lives.
