|
After the survivors had left the crash site there remained the task of recovering the remains of the 29 who died on the mountain. In an ordinary case the SAR would have remained at the site collecting bodies and delivering them to Santiago for inspection and release to next of kin. This, however, was not an ordinary case. While there were 14 intact bodies, only scant, unidentifiable pieces remained of the other 15. The rescue climbers decided to leave the remains on the mountain and await orders from a higher authority. After conferring with victims’ families and considering the options, it was decided that all the remains would be buried in the mountains. It was thought that this way the families of the dead would be saved the further trauma of discovering that all that their loved one had been used for food.
On January 18, 1973, a ten man team from the Andean Rescue Corps, along with representatives of the SAR and Uruguayan Air Force, and a catholic priest went to the crash site in the mountains by helicopter. Over a course of two days the bodies and remains from around the fuselage and up the mountain were gathered, placed in plastic body bags, and moved to a shallow grave almost half a mile from the spot where the fuselage came to rest. The grave was covered over with rocks and an iron cross was erected. Inscribed on the cross:
The world to it's Uruguayan brothers-1972
Nearer My God To Thee
The wreckage of the fuselage was set afire, fueled by gasoline that had been doused throughout it. The fire had done it's job, leaving behind the charred frame of the fuselage. The team was air lifted from the site on January 20.
On March 21 the site was visited by two fathers who had lost their sons on the mountain - Ricardo Echavarren and Gustavo Nicolich. The two men, accompanied by two climbing guides and two reporters, had climbed up to the burned out wreck from the eastern side of the mountains, passing by the tail section in the process. Echavarren had come with an agenda, to retrieve the body of his son. Ricardo had been told by survivors of his son’s desire to be buried in Uruguay and not abandoned in the Andes. Ricardo Echavarren was going to see that his son’s dying wish was granted. The men continued on to the mass grave, and began carefully removing the rocks that covered it. The bag containing Rafael's body was quickly found and after rebuilding the grave the men started back out of the mountains; Nicolich did not attempt to find his son. As the party reached the foothills they were met by Argentine police officers and the fathers were arrested for grave robbing. Rafael’s body was confiscated and transferred to a holding niche at San Rafael Cemetery. Through the intervention of reporters and the Mayor of San Rafael, the charges against Nicolich and Echavarren were dropped, but the body remained in San Rafael until Echavarren obtained legal orders allowing him to export his son back to Uruguay*.
*This is all I have heard on the matter, I have not found where Rafael was finally buried. - C.D. |
