Saturday January 21, 2023 | 12:30 p.m.
A 35-year-old tourist suffered a foot amputation after being swept away by an avalanche while trekking with her partner in a mountain area near Bariloche.
The accident occurred this Thursday afternoon, when the young woman, named Lucía Collado, together with her partner, were walking along a mountain path towards the San Martín Refuge, on Lake Jakob, located 1,600 meters above sea level.
During the journey, the couple was surprised by a storm of heavy rains and winds, which generated a sudden increase in the flow of the river that caused an avalanche of stones and mud that dragged the young woman while she was walking. The man was not injured but Lucía was buried under the mud.
Earlier, local organizations had issued a meteorological alert for an electrical storm, however, the tourists decided to undertake the journey anyway.
The first communication that the rescuers received indicated that the victim was missing, although they later managed to locate her several meters below where she was initially located.
Juan Cordeiro, a tourist who was with the couple at the time of the accident, was the one who gave notice of what had happened and directed the rescue teams.
Cordeiro met the couple on the way back, along the old road, to Colonia Suiza. The three of them were returning from spending the night at the San Martín Refuge and were close to arriving when they were surprised by the avalanche.
Lucía’s boyfriend managed to cross the stream and when he was waiting for his partner to do the same, the mudslide dragged her several meters down the mountain. Her partner tried to warn her about the situation but her avalanche surprised her.
Meanwhile, Cordeiro managed to grab onto a branch and, in this way, was able to avoid the slide of mud and stones. “He didn’t drag me by half a meter, I managed to grab hold of a branch and when I look, the mud and stones that came down from the mountain dragged the girl,” he recounted.
How was the rescue operation?
The Club Andino Bariloche (CAB) and personnel from National Parks were in charge of carrying out the rescue operation to assist Lucía and transfer her to a medical center.
At first, Cordeiro was the one who gave notice to the campsite where he was staying, in Colonia Suiza, and from there they contacted the rescuers and the emergency services.
A helicopter involved in fighting forest fires landed near the path where the accident occurred and transferred the young woman to a heliport located at the access to Bariloche. There an ambulance was waiting for her to transfer her to the Ramón Carrillo Hospital, in the center of the city of Río Negro.
Upon entering the health center, Lucía was urgently referred to the operating room where she underwent surgery for more than three hours. Due to the seriousness of the injuries, the doctors had to amputate his left foot.
The young woman had suffered severe trauma to her left lower extremity, with a double fracture of the tibia and fibula and soft tissue injuries.
According to the doctors, the woman “had lost a lot of blood and suffered irreversible injuries to that extremity.” Her state of health is critical, which is why she remains hospitalized in intensive care and with mechanical respiratory assistance.
