Daniel Fernandez Strauch, one of the last survivors of the tragic Andes crash, has died at 79.

Uruguayan Daniel Fernandez Strauch, one of the survivors of the Andean tragedy depicted in the film Circle of Snow , died Thursday, May 8, in Montevideo at the age of 79, his relatives announced. Mr. Fernandez Strauch was one of the protagonists of the odyssey experienced by 16 Uruguayans to survive a plane crash in the middle of the Andes mountain range in 1972, until they were rescued after enduring 72 days of extreme cold.

"Daniel is gone, but not before fighting, as he did all his life, by setting an example," wrote the director of Circle of Snow , the Spaniard Juan Antonio Bayona, announcing the Uruguayan's death on his social networks. In Montevideo , Pablo Vierci, author of the book of the same name, confirmed to AFP the death of his friend. "He had been ill for a long time," said Mr. Vierci, without giving further details. Mr. Bayona, whose film about the tragedy, which became world famous as Miracle of the Andes, was nominated for an Oscar for best international film, described Mr. Fernandez Strauch as a man with "the heart of a giant."

"In the mountains, he had to take on a very difficult role," the filmmaker recalled. Daniel Fernandez Strauch, who was 26 when he was stranded in the mountains, was one of those who organized and distributed food to his companions, along with his cousins ​​Eduardo and Adolfo Strauch. It was "the most horrible task of all," he admitted in an interview with AFP in 2023. The survivors, mostly young players on a Uruguayan amateur rugby team, had to feed on the flesh of the dead to survive, one of the most painful aspects of the tragedy, which left 29 dead. An agricultural engineer by profession, Mr. Fernandez Strauch is the fourth survivor of the Miracle of the Andes to die, after Alvaro Mangino (2025), José Luis Inciarte (2023) and Javier Methol (2015).