After surviving an aircraft crash and surviving on their own for weeks in Colombia’s Amazon jungle, four kids have been discovered alive.
The release of the siblings, who are 13 years old, 9 years old, 4 years old, and 1 year old, was described as “a joy for the whole country” by Colombia’s president.
On May 1, a small plane carrying the mother of the kids and two pilots crashed in a bush.
A massive rescue effort involving dozens of soldiers and locals was focused on the missing youngsters.
Finding the group, according to President Gustavo Petro, was a “wonderful day,” and he added, “They were alone, and they themselves achieved an example of total survival that will remain in history.
These youngsters are Colombians and the offspring of peace today.
Mr. Petro posted a picture of the siblings, who had been missing for 40 days, being cared for by a number of military personnel and Indigenous people. The smallest child was fed from a bottle by one of the rescuers, who also used a spoon to feed one of the other kids from a mug.
The children could be seen being airlifted into a helicopter in the dark over the tall trees of the bush in a video posted by Colombia’s defense ministry.
When Mr. Petro spoke to the siblings’ grandfather, the elder man informed him that “the mother jungle returned them” and that they were receiving medical care. Mr. Petro also claimed that the siblings were receiving medical care.
The kids were transported to Bogota, the nation’s capital, where medics took them to a hospital for additional medical care.
Findings in the hunt for missing children following the crash of a Colombian plane
Apparently, children lived in the jungle for 16 days.
The Cessna 206 plane that the kids and their mother were riding on when they were killed was on route from Araracuara, in the province of Amazonas, to San José del Guaviare when it made a mayday signal owing to an engine failure.
The soldiers discovered the dead of the three adults at the accident site, but it appeared that the kids had fled the debris and were looking for assistance in the rainforest.
After an extensive search, rescuers found the children’s belongings in May, including a child’s bottle, a pair of scissors, a hair tie, and a makeshift shelter.
Small footprints were also found, which gave search workers hope that the kids were still alive in the jungle, which is inhabited by predators like jaguars and snakes.
The youngsters are from the Huitoto indigenous group, and members of their community anticipated that their familiarity with fruits and their knowledge of how to survive in the bush would increase their chances of surviving.
Indigenous people joined the search, and helicopters aired a message in the Huitoto language that was recorded by the children’s grandmother pleading with them to stop moving so that they would be easier to find.
Last month, a tweet from the Colombian president’s account incorrectly claimed that the kids had been located, drawing criticism.
The following day, he removed the tweet, claiming that it was unconfirmed information that his office had received from Colombia’s child care organization.
