The Chilean Air force has found 14 survivors from a plane that crashed in the Argentine Andes over two months ago.

The first news that anyone had survived came when two of the passengers reached civilisation yesterday after a 10-day trek to get help.

The two men, Roberto Canessa and Fernando Parrado then contacted the emergency services and directed them to the wreckage.

Six survivors have been flown out by helicopter to a field hospital in San Fernando.

The other eight are on the mountain receiving medical care until weather conditions allow them to be rescued.

The Fokker “Fairchild” vanished on its way from the Uruguayan capital Montevideo to Santiago in Chile on Friday, 13 October.

Its passengers included the Christian Brothers, a catholic Uruguayan rugby team and their friends and relatives. Despite suffering from cold and hunger, 19-year-old Roberto Canessa and 21-year-old Fernando Parrado insisted on helping the rescue effort.

The two men had trudged for 10 days in arctic conditions before finally coming across some herdsmen in the Andean foothills.

Mr Canessa, a second-year medical student, explained that 25 of the 45 passengers survived the initial crash.

The pilot had to make an emergency landing in a snowy valley after the plane hit turbulent weather conditions. A further eight people died when an avalanche hit the wreckage two weeks after the crash.

The men spoke of a deep team spirit and a determination not to give up.

Mr Parrado, a mechanical engineering student, described how he watched his mother and sister die. “They remained there in the snow, but I knew I had to live. Before this I had lost a little faith. Now I have regained it, very deeply. God heard our prayers.”

The survivors lived on chocolate bars, sweets and light food they found in luggage.