As usual here, everything is fine, until it isn’t any more, and then everything quickly goes to shit.
The concept of “duty of care” doesn’t exist here, certainly not in the law.
Mauricio Ruiz, the regional director of Conaf, Chile’s national forestry corporation, which employs the park’s rangers, told local news media that “there were no park rangers on the night of the 16th” because of mandatory voting in Chile’s presidential election.
More on this from the Guardian. The Chilean press has been strangely silent, perhaps because it happened too far away from Santiago - or maybe because only “foreigners” were affected, or even to prevent bad publicity from affecting Chile’s international tourism image.
‘We were in shock’
When the hikers made it back to the Los Perros campsite at about 12.30pm, some suffering from frostbite, hypothermia and cuts, they had to demand access to the campsite’s staffroom, which they turned into a makeshift medical area. They were initially charged for additional sleeping bags and food, they say.
“Y verás cómo quieren en Chile al amigo cuando es forastero”
More on this from a UK source.