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People in Mendoza are evacuated after the snowstorm
Photo: --- / dpa
More than 450 people have been rescued after a heavy snowstorm in the Andes between Argentina and Chile.
This was reported by the Argentine newspaper "La Nación", citing rescue workers.
According to the Telam news agency, the rescued were taken to the cultural center of the Uspallata high oasis in the province of Mendoza for medical care and food.
The center has been turned into an emergency shelter.
It is said that most of those rescued were tourists from Mendoza who had been traveling in the high mountains.
But truck drivers would also have counted.
"The last 60 people are already being brought down by trucks and tracked vehicles," the Mendoza government tweeted.
"People were shocked"
The storm snowed more than 300 vehicles on a connecting road between Argentina and Chile in a foothill of the Andes on Saturday.
»People were shocked because they spent the whole night outdoors, in strong winds and sub-zero temperatures;
it was terrible for the children,” quoted “La Nación” Fabián Tello, head of the crisis team set up by the municipality of Las Heras.
Las Heras is located in the province of Mendoza, around 1200 kilometers west of Buenos Aires.
The region is currently experiencing a polar cold spell, a rather unusual phenomenon despite the winter.
Dozens of vehicles were also stuck on the Chilean side.
The mountain pass "Paso Cristo Redentor" at an altitude of 3200 meters, which connects Mendoza and the Chilean capital Santiago de Chile, remained closed on Monday at minus eleven degrees.
svs/dpa
