Climber Dies After Falling Down Volcano While She Celebrated Birthday

A mother’s 42nd birthday adventure ended in unimaginable tragedy when she fell 2,000 feet down a volcano in Chile while climbing with friends.

Ingrid Daniela Vera Figueroa had set out to climb the Llaima volcano in Conguillío National Park last Sunday as part of her birthday celebration. The mother of two, who worked as a school governor at Alexander Graham Bell School in Villarrica City, was hiking with a group of friends when the accident happened around 3 p.m.

According to reports, Figueroa had been taking photos during the climb when she let go of her ice pick, lost her balance and fell down a steep ravine.

Just hours earlier, she had shared an emotional birthday message on social media.

“It’s three in the morning, and we’re finishing packing our backpacks to ascend Llaima,” she told her followers.

“I hope God accompanies me on this wonderful day, on which I’m turning 42 and am super happy.”

Then came a chilling line that now feels haunting in hindsight.

“Yes, I have a little uncertainty about what’s going to happen,” she wrote.

Her friends immediately called for help after the fall, but the rescue operation quickly turned difficult. Severe weather swept across the area, and strong winds reportedly kept a helicopter from reaching the site.

Figueroa’s death was confirmed later that evening. However, because of the dangerous conditions, her body could not be recovered until Monday morning.

A joint recovery operation involving police, firefighters, volunteers and officials from Chile’s National Forest Corporation, known as Conaf, later retrieved her remains.

Officials said the group had not registered with park authorities before starting the climb, which goes against safety protocol.

Conaf director Héctor Tillería warned that the area was facing dangerous high-mountain conditions, including sub-zero temperatures, and urged all hikers and climbers to register properly before entering routes like Llaima.

Figueroa was reportedly an experienced and passionate climber who had scaled several peaks in the region before the fatal accident.

Her school community remembered her as a “responsible, kind, committed” mother and offered condolences to her husband, her two children, her relatives and her friends.

The Llaima volcano stands at more than 9,800 feet and is considered one of the most challenging climbs in southern Chile. The route often begins at the Las Araucarias ski resort and can take seven to eight hours to complete.

It is also one of Chile’s most active volcanoes, making it a popular but demanding destination for seasoned hikers.

Authorities are still investigating the exact circumstances of Figueroa’s fall.

The tragedy comes after another frightening incident on the same mountain last year, when an Argentinian tourist went missing for several hours while trying to climb Llaima in extreme conditions before being rescued.

It also echoes another deadly volcano tragedy involving Brazilian hiker Juliana Marins, 26, who fell nearly 2,000 feet from the ridge of Mount Rinjani in Indonesia last year.

Marins, a dancer from Niteroi near Rio de Janeiro, had been traveling through Asia when she joined a group climbing the active volcano on Lombok island. She was trapped for days in brutal terrain before rescuers found her body near a crater using a thermal drone.