Repatriation from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

San Pedro de Atacama is a small desert town in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, at an altitude of approximately 2,400 metres above sea level. It is one of the driest places on Earth and attracts British adventure and nature tourists for its lunar landscapes, salt flats (Salar de Atacama), geysers (El Tatio, at 4,320m), flamingo lagoons, and the Valle de la Luna. Altitude-related illness is a genuine risk, particularly for visitors arriving directly from sea level or over-exerting at high altitude on day one.

San Pedro de Atacama sits in the Antofagasta Region (Region II). The nearest city of significant size is Calama, approximately 100 kilometres north-west, which has El Loa Airport (CJC). Santiago (SCL, approximately 1,600km south) is the international hub.

The administrative complexity of a death in San Pedro de Atacama lies in the combination of extreme remoteness, a small-town civil registry, the need for forensic facilities in Calama or Antofagasta, and the need to route the body to Santiago for international cargo.

Consular coverage

The British Embassy Santiago (Av. El Bosque Norte 0125, Las Condes, Santiago) is the resident UK diplomatic mission. It provides consular services for all British nationals throughout Chile, including San Pedro de Atacama.

British Embassy Santiago: +56 2 2370 4100. FCDO 24-hour: +44 (0)20 7008 5000.

What Chilean law requires

Código Procesal Penal (Criminal Procedure Code, Law No. 19.696, effective 2000, reformed 2020): All sudden and violent deaths are reported to Carabineros de Chile (national police) or Policía de Investigaciones de Chile (PDI). The Fiscalía Regional (Regional Prosecutor’s Office) for the Antofagasta Region oversees investigation cases.

Death registration: The Registro Civil e Identificación (Civil Registry) registers deaths at the local or nearest branch. In San Pedro de Atacama, registration is handled by the Oficina de Registro Civil in the town. The certificado de defunción (death certificate) is the key document.

Servicio Médico Legal (SML, Legal Medical Service): The SML is Chile’s national forensic medicine agency. The SML’s nearest office to San Pedro de Atacama is the SML Antofagasta (Calle Prat, Antofagasta, approximately 315km west). Forensic autopsies ordered by the Fiscalía are conducted here or in Calama. Body transfer from San Pedro de Atacama to Calama or Antofagasta is required for all post-mortem cases.

Ministerio de Salud (MINSAL) export permit: The Seremi de Salud Antofagasta (Regional Ministerial Secretariat of Health) issues the permiso sanitario de traslado internacional.

Source: Código Procesal Penal Law No. 19.696 (Chile); SML Reglamento, Decreto Supremo No. 656/2007; 2025.

Medical coverage

San Pedro de Atacama has the Hospital de San Pedro de Atacama (basic facilities; limited trauma and intensive care). Serious cases are evacuated to Hospital Regional de Antofagasta or, for critical cases, Santiago. The altitude at El Tatio geysers (4,320m) means altitude sickness events at those excursion sites are some distance from even San Pedro’s basic hospital.

The documentation chain

1. Certificado de defunción from Registro Civil San Pedro de Atacama. 2. Carabineros or PDI investigation report. 3. Fiscalía Regional Antofagasta release. 4. SML Antofagasta or Calama forensic post-mortem (if ordered — requires body transfer, 315km Antofagasta or 100km Calama). 5. Seremi de Salud Antofagasta permiso sanitario de traslado internacional. 6. Transfer of the body to Santiago for international air cargo (approximately 1,600km by road, or CJC-SCL internal flight with special cargo authorisation). 7. Embalming at an approved Santiago or Antofagasta mortuary. 8. Air cargo from SCL (Santiago International, Arturo Merino Benítez) to LHR. British Airways, LATAM, and Iberia serve SCL-LHR, usually via São Paulo, Lima, or Madrid.

Timeline from San Pedro de Atacama

Natural death (altitude illness), no investigation: 21 to 35 days
Accident or investigation case: 35 to 56 days
Complex forensic case, pathology in Antofagasta: 6 to 10 weeks

The combination of distance to forensic facilities, the need to route to Santiago for international cargo, and the remoteness of the Atacama region makes this one of the more logistically demanding Chilean repatriation cases.

For repatriation guidance, contact our team via the enquiry form or WhatsApp.