Avalanche Sweeps Hikers Into Chile's Laguna Del Inca, Near Portillo

A snow avalanche swept seven mountaineers into Laguna del Inca, near Chile's closed Portillo ski resort in the Los Andes commune of the Valparaíso Region, on the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. Three of the seven died and four were injured, the Chilean outlet La Tercera reported, citing the Los Andes Fiscalía, the local prosecutor's office.

The group had been climbing a trail toward the summit of Cerro Los Tres Hermanos at about 2:30 p.m. local time when a call reported a snow landslide at the site and said the hikers had ended up inside the lagoon, Pamela Ruiz, the Los Andes deputy prosecutor, told La Tercera.

BioBioChile identified two of the three dead as Magdalena Acuña Jiménez, 56, the daughter of actress Luz Jiménez, and Rodrigo Peña Troncoso. A third body remained in the lagoon; the outlet said the search for it was suspended the day after the avalanche because of weather conditions and the risk of another landslide of similar size, Manuel Millones, the presidential delegate for the Valparaíso region, said, adding that the search was expected to resume later in the week.

The accident occurred outside Portillo's authorized ski area, which is closed for the season, Miguel Purcell, the resort's manager, told La Tercera, adding that entering unauthorized zones or continuing an activity despite warnings exposes people to serious danger. Manuel Rivera, the mayor of Los Andes, estimated that snow accumulation at the resort had reached about 12 meters.