After the avalanche, three more people died in the final weeks before rescue: Arturo Nogueira on November 15, Rafael Echavarren on November 18, and Numa Turcatti on December 11, twelve days before the rescue helicopters arrived.
In total: 29 people died; 16 survived.
Numa Turcatti’s death on December 11 — twelve days before the rescue — is a particular weight in the history of the survival. He had been one of those who ate as little as possible of the available nutrition. His health had declined steadily through the weeks of starvation. He died knowing that some of his friends had already set out on the expedition that might bring rescue. He did not live to hear the helicopters.
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## The 16 Who Survived
The sixteen survivors who were evacuated on December 22 and 23 ranged in condition from severe to critical. All were malnourished. All had spent 72 days in cold that caused ongoing damage to their extremities. Several had injuries from the crash that had been imperfectly managed without proper medical supplies.
They were:
Pedro Algorta, Roberto Canessa, Alfredo “Pancho” Delgado, Daniel Fernández Strauch, Roberto “Bobby” François, Roy Harley, José Luis “Coche” Inciarte, Álvaro Mangino, Javier Methol, Nando Parrado, Carlos “Carlitos” Páez Rodríguez, Ramón “Moncho” Sabella, Adolfo “Fito” Strauch, Eduardo Strauch, Antonio “Tintín” Vizintín, and Gustavo Zerbino.
Javier Methol, the oldest survivor at 36, had lost his wife in the avalanche. He was returning to his children as a widower, having survived an experience that most of the survivors have described as the most extreme of their lives. He maintained, by all accounts, a dignity and equanimity throughout the ordeal that his fellow survivors consistently remarked upon.