Four children who were missing in a Colombian jungle after they survived a plane crash have all been found alive, according to the country’s president.
President Gustavo Petro announced that the four siblings who disappeared after a plane they were on went down in the Amazon rainforest had survived their ordeal and were receiving medical treatment.
“A joy for the whole country! The 4 children who were lost 40 days ago in the Colombian jungle appeared alive,” Mr. Petro tweeted on Friday.
The president said the youngsters, who were found alone, are an “example of survival” and predicted their saga “will remain in history.”
The siblings – 13-year-old Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, nine-year-old Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy, four-year-old Tien Noriel Ronoque Mucutuy, and 11-month-old Cristin Neriman Ranoque Mucutuy – were travelling in a Cessna 206 plane when it crashed on 1 May near the Guaviare province.
Their mother Magdalena Mucutuy, the plane’s pilot, died in the accident but the children were nowhere to be found, according to the Colombian Air Force.
Days into the initial search Mr Petro announced that the minors had been located and were in good health. But hours later, he clarified that the Air Force and indigenous communities had established contact with the children, but that their location remained unknown.
On 1 May, the plane carrying six passengers in addition to the pilot suffered an engine failure and declared an emergency. After the plane fell off the radar, the search for any survivors started.
The plane wasn’t found until two weeks later on 16 May in the rainforest. The remains of the three adults on the plane were located, but the children weren’t there.
The Colombian armed forces flew 150 soldiers with dogs to the area to search for the siblings with dozens of volunteers from Indigenous tribes also joining the search efforts.
As they searched in areas with low visibility because of the forest and mist, soldiers in helicopters dropped boxes of food into the jungle for the children to hopefully find.
At night, planes fired flares to help ground crews search, and megaphones were used with a recording by the children’s grandmother telling them to stay in one place.
During the search, signs that the children were alive appeared, including footprints, a baby bottle, diapers, and fruit with what appeared to be human bite marks.
“The jungle saved them,” Mr Petro said, according to the AP. “They are children of the jungle, and now they are also children of Colombia.”
