Where the survivors of horrific plane crash that led to cannibalism are now
The new Netflix movie centred on the harrowing true story of the 1972 Andes plane crash has been praised by critics and viewers alike.
Society of the Snow covers the real life story of the Andes flight disaster where a plane carrying 45 people crashed into mountains - forcing those who survived to turn to cannibalism after the small amount of food supplies on board the plane ran out.
Of those on board, only 16 made it off the mountain, with the rest either dying in the crash, succumbing to their injuries or being killed when an avalanche struck the fuselage of the plane the survivors were sheltering in.
Advert
After learning that the search efforts had been called off, the group of 16 decided to send people out to seek help and eventually a team were able to make it back to civilisation.
This is what became of the group of survivors in the aftermath of the horrific incident.
Carlos Páez Rodríguez
Páez Rodríguez was just 18 when the plane crashed and actually had his 19th birthday while stranded.
Speaking about the incident, he said: “I was an 18-year-old boy, the son of a famous painter who gave us everything.
"I still had a nanny – she packed my suitcase for the trip. I had never been cold. I had never been hungry. I had never done anything useful. And I lived the most incredible survival story of all time.”
Páez Rodríguez went on to have two kids and is now a granddad of five. He got a job in advertising and has also spoken about his experiences.
Fernando 'Nando' Seler Parrado Dolgay
Nando lost his sister and mother in the crash and while dealing with the horrific loss of his two loved ones, he managed to trek for 10 days to raise the alarm.
Following the incident, Nando said his family all assumed he was dead and returned home to find his belongings had been cleared out.
In later years, he became a race car driver and served as the technical advisor on the 1993 film Alive: Miracle in the Andes about the crash; he has also appeared in numerous documentaries and worked as a motivational speaker. He is married and has two children.
Roberto Canessa
Canessa was a medical student at the time of the crash and was able to help save lives. He was also one of the men who went off in search of help.
He kept on with his studies after the crash, going on to become a cardiologist and paediatrician and was awarded the National Award of Medicine in Uruguay on three occasions. He also wrote about his experiences.
Canessa married the woman he was dating at the time of the crash and they had three children together.
Gustavo Zerbino
Zerbino had also been a medical student, but unlike Canessa he did not continue with his studies after the crash, saying: “I had seen enough suffering."
Zerbino, who has six kids, did charity work as well as carving out a career in the chemical industry.
In an interview with the Daily Mail about their decision to turn to cannibalism, he said: “One person was afraid to do it, but he had a wife and four kids to live for. Some of us told him that he must do it. I said: ‘If I die and you don't eat me, you are stupid.’
“We waited one, maybe two days until everyone agreed. I hated having to do it but my attitude now is exactly the same as it was then.
“If I crashed tomorrow in exactly the same circumstances, then you need to eat human flesh so you can walk through the mountains and find rescue services to get everyone out.”
Roberto 'Bobby' François
Bobby, like Nando, also had a birthday while on the mountain - turning 21.
Since returning to normal life, Bobby has kept himself out of the limelight and prefers not to talk about it.
In one rare TV appearance, he admitted: "When someone comes up to me and asks: 'Are you the Francois from the Andes?', then I say: 'Who? ... it's my brother or my cousin'. I change the subject and then that's the end of it.
“If I could only forget about it, I would. People say I should probably talk about it more, but I prefer to talk about something else."
He became a rancher, married and went on to have six children.
Javier Methol
At the time of the crash, Methol was already married with four children. His wife, Liliana was also in the crash and initially survived but sadly died in an avalanche which struck the group.
Menthol passed away from cancer in 2015 - he was the first of the survivors to die.
Jose Luis 'Coche' Inciarte
Coche lost around half his body weight while stranded and contracted gangrene.
After surviving the disaster, he went on to marry the woman he was dating at the time of the crash and they had three children together.
Sadly, he passed away last year.
Eduardo Strauch
Strauch was in the crash with two of his cousins. Unlike other survivors, Strauch has returned to the crash site, more than 20 times in total.
He has previously said that at the time of the crash he was so set on his own survival he didn’t cry over the loss of his friends.
He says: “When I go now I can cry. I like to be on that mountain that I hated in the beginning and now I love it.”
Adolfo ‘Fito’ Strauch
Father-of-four Fito went on to work in agriculture after the crash. He has also featured in numerous documentaries about it, admitting in one that he didn’t want his children to know that they had resorted to cannibalism, but had to when he realised other kids already knew.
“I wanted my son to be prepared for what he would hear in the schoolyard,” he said.
Daniel Fernandez Strauch
Daniel, who was in the crash with his cousins, had initially attempted to deny that he had been in the crash.
However, the dad-of-three later changed his mind and decided it was important for him to share his incredible story with the world.
He said: "I thought to myself, 'This is why I survived. I survived so I could tell the story and help people.'"
Roy Harley
Harley was able to find a radio that a fellow passenger was carrying and managed to get it working again. It was through this radio, the 16 men discovered the search to find them had been called off.
Speaking in 2022, he recalled the first night after the crash. He told AFP: “I experienced hell
“At my feet was a boy who was missing a part of his face and... choking on blood.
“I didn't have the courage to reach out to him, to hold his hand, to comfort him. I was afraid. I was very afraid.”
After the crash, he worked as an engineer, married and had three kids.
Alvaro Mangino
Mangino has kept himself out of the public eye since the crash and has refused to speak about it. He moved to Brazil for several years, before returning to Uruguay. He married and had four children.
Jose Pedro Algorta
Much like Mangino, Algorta also decided to keep himself off the radar following the crash. The dad-of-three left Uruguay for Argentina, but later returned.
Antonio ‘Tintin’ Vizintin
Tintin had initially set out with fellow survivors Nando and Roberto to find help but went back after the trio realised they didn’t have enough supplies for them all.
He went on to get hitched three times and had four kids.
Ramon Mancho Sabella
Sabella hadn’t been part of the rugby team, but had joined his pals Bobby and Carlitos for the trip.
He previously hit out at the way the survivors were viewed upon their return.
"On the mountain, we had to create a society to survive,” he said.
“Down here, we have to survive society. We ate the dead, you eat the living."
Once back in Uruguay he had numerous jobs including breeding ostriches and selling houses.
Pancho Delgado
Delgado acted as a spokesperson for the group when they were eventually rescued.
After the crash, he did some motivational speaking and has spoken about the implications of the cannibalism he and his fellow survivors took part in to survive.
He went along to a reunion in Chile in 2012, but refused to get on a plane.
Topics: World News, Netflix
Claire Reid