German Climber Dies After Fatal Fall on Llaima Volcano in Southern Chile

Emergency response teams in southern Chile’s La Araucanía Region have recovered the body of a 65-year-old German tourist who died during a ski descent on the eastern slope of the Llaima volcano in Conguillío National Park. As reported by Chilean newspaper El Mercurio, the victim, identified as Uwe Diederichs, was descending the massif alongside two other European tourists and an Austrian mountain guide when he suffered an apparent cardiac arrest at an elevation of approximately 2,700 meters above sea level.

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Details published by El Mercurio reveal that the group had checked into the nearby La Baita hotel on Friday before initiating their climb on Sunday morning. According to Major Mauricio Rodríguez, sub-prefect of Villarrica, Diederichs fell to the ground during the late-afternoon ski descent down the volcano’s eastern flank. Major Rodríguez noted that early evidence points to a heart attack, though official confirmation remains subject to forensic examinations by the Legal Medical Service (SML) and the Institutional Criminalistics Laboratory (Labocar) to rule out any third-party intervention.

The tragic outing was marked by multiple violations of park safety regulations, according to official statements provided to El Mercurio by the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF). CONAF Araucanía regional director Héctor Tilería stated that the group entered the protected area without completing mandatory registration or consulting park rangers regarding trail conditions and safety protocols. CONAF clarified that while the party initially intended to access the volcano through the Cherquenco and Los Paraguas sector in Vilcún — the mountain’s only authorized climbing route — they found the road impassable and chose to enter through the unauthorized Pastos Blancos trail in Melipeuco instead, bypassing park ranger controls after opening hours.

The mountain guide filed a formal report with Carabineros during the early hours of Monday morning, triggering a ground extraction mission led by the Special Police Operations Group (GOPE). As detailed by El Mercurio, GOPE officers reached Diederichs’ body at 2,700 meters after 5:00 p.m. and requested an emergency air evacuation due to steep terrain and plunging temperatures. However, with no helicopter available, rescuers carried the body down the mountain on foot, reaching the base around 8:00 p.m. before transferring the victim to a facility in Temuco.