< p>The authorities of the Peruvian department of Ancash honored the memory of Soviet rescuers who were sent to this region in 1970 to help victims of a powerful earthquake, but died in a plane crash. The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Peru reported that the regional authorities received the Russian delegation, expressing gratitude for the large-scale humanitarian assistance of the USSR and emphasizing the importance of preserving the memory of the fallen rescuers. The meeting also expressed interest in the development of interregional relations between Russia and Ancash, as well as in cooperation in the humanitarian sphere.
During the ceremony, employees of the embassy, the Russian Center for Science and Culture, compatriots and Peruvian officials laid wreaths at the stele installed on the territory of the hospital in Huaraz, which was opened on the basis of a Soviet military field hospital donated to Peru. Flowers were also laid at a memorial plate in the memorial complex in Yungay, which was almost completely destroyed by a landslide caused by tremors.
An earthquake of magnitude 7.9 that occurred in Peru on May 31, 1970 and its consequences claimed the lives of about 70 thousand people. The USSR was the first to respond to this tragedy and provided unprecedented assistance by sending an An-22 transport aircraft with 22 rescuers on board to Peru. However, the plane crashed over the North Atlantic on July 18, 1970. In memory of the fallen rescuers, the Day of Russian-Peruvian Solidarity is celebrated annually on July 18.
In addition to specialists, the USSR also sent building materials to Peru. In Yungai, prefabricated houses built from structures brought from another continent are still called «Russian».