53 years ago today, on December 26, 1972 (November 21, 1972 in the lunar calendar), survivors of the crashed plane admitted that they had eaten human flesh. Survivors sleep outdoors in the Andes In December 1972, survivors of a crashed plane admitted that they had lived hard in the Andes for 69 days, eating the bodies of other lost passengers during this period. Most of the 16 survivors went to Santiago, Chile to attend Christmas Mass there. A priest there told the men that their lives were a "gift from God." On October 13, the Uruguayan Air Force plane they were flying crashed. Twenty-nine passengers were killed, some during the crash and some later in an avalanche. Among the survivors, eight were strong rugby players. They lived off the dried fruits and sugar bars they brought, as well as soup made from ground clothing. As the temperature dropped below zero and they ran out of food, they felt desperate and eating the bodies of their own kind was the last resort.