A young law student has died after falling nearly 3,000ft while climbing one of the world’s highest peaks.
Andrés Regueira, 21, fell 900m (2,953ft) from Huascarán’s North Summit, one of the mountain’s most demanding climbing routes, yesterday (5 August).
Another member of the climbing party, 31-year-old Michael Milla, managed to descend to a mountain hut near Lake Llanganuco, where he alerted the authorities.
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A specialist body recovery operation is under way in an extremely challenging environment due to the high altitude, freezing temperatures and glaciated terrain.
Authorities hope to recover Regueira’s body and establish the exact circumstances of the fatal fall.
Access to Huascarán – Peru’s highest mountain, at 6,768m (22,205ft) – was reportedly under temporary restrictions at the time of the accident.
Regueira, from Chile, enrolled at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile’s Law School in 2024 and was in his third year, as reported by Need To Know.
The faculty’s dean, Gabriel Bocksang, said: “Such an early and unexpected loss has deeply moved us.
“I would like to ask the entire UC Law community to join together in prayer for Andrés, his family, his friends and his loved ones.
“I would also like to thank Andrés for the constant dedication he showed as one of our students.”
At 6,768m (22,205ft), Huascarán is the world’s highest tropical mountain and is generally ranked around the 38th highest mountain on Earth by elevation above sea level.
The location has also been the scene of another ongoing tragedy.
Three Peruvian mountaineers disappeared on the mountain during an expedition on 14 July.
The climbers – Alejandro Ugarte, Saúl Mendoza and Artidoro Salas Gaytán – have been tentatively found at around 6,400m (20,997ft) above sea level in an area of deep glacial crevasses.
However, rescue teams have so far been unable to reach the site because of the dangerous terrain and extreme conditions.
READ MORE: Tourist ‘dies suddenly’ while hiking along mountain trail
