Eduardo Strauch arrives in Spain to offer the conference “Exit: Surviving in the Andes”, where he will tell about his experience in what is known as the “Tragedy of the Andes”. It will debut on December 12 in Burgos, in the Fórum Evolución auditorium.
Strauch, an architect by profession, took the Flight 571 of the Uruguayan Air Force which crashed in Los Andes on October 13, 1972. He was 25 years old and was traveling with other teammates from his rugby team. Of the 45 passengers, only 16 people managed to survive after spending 72 days at almost 4,000 meters of altitude, in conditions of extreme cold and without food.
The accident
As the plane crossed the Andes, clouds covered the mountains. The pilots mistakenly believed that the aircraft had flown over Curicó (Chile), where they would turn north to begin their descent to Los Cerrillos Airport in the Chilean capital. They did not realize that the instrument readings indicated that they were still 70 km from Curicó. The aircraft began to descend prematurely while still flying over the Andes, hitting the edge of a mountain.
© Getty ImagesAuthorities immediately began a search for the plane and flew over the crash site several times over the next few days, but were unable to find the white fuselage. On October 21 the search efforts were called off after searching for a total of 142 hours and 30 minutes, they concluded that There was no hope of survival and they ended their search. It was not until December 22, two months later, when a helicopter rescued them in the mountainsafter two companions from the group began an expedition in search of help in which they walked ten days in a row through the mountains without rest until they found human life. Last December 2023, it premiered “The Snow Society”, movie based on this event and directed by JA Bayona, which was very well received by the public.
© Getty ImagesThis difficult experience was a great learning experience for Eduardo Strauch and he says that, to this day, he is still surprised by the human being’s ability to adapt to extreme situations. The two and a half months lost in the mountains made him value the importance of life. The Uruguayan architect does not like to talk about the “Miracle of the Andes”, since the survival of the 16 young people was the result solely of his Yoinexhaustible strength and its tireless fight.
© NetflixIn 2012, forty years after the accident, he decided to tell his story in an autobiographical book titled ‘From silence’written with Mireya Soriano. It is a work that combines facts and feelings. After his intervention in Burgos he will sign copies. It will then continue its tour of Spain on December 15 at the Palacio de Congresos in Zaragoza, on the 16th at the Teatro Carrión in Valladolid and finally, on the 17th at the Teatro La Latina in Madrid.