The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, confirmed that four children who were missing in the Amazon jungle in the south of the country, after a plane crash on May 1, were rescued alive.
Petro said that “the four children who were lost 40 days ago in the Colombian jungle turned up alive,” having been found on Friday by soldiers participating in the search.
“A joy for the whole country!” Wrote the head of state on the social network Twitter.
Petro later told reporters that the children, ages 13, 9, 4 and an 11-month-old baby, were alone when search teams found them, were airlifted out and are currently receiving medical attention.
The Colombian president said that the young people of the Uitoto indigenous community are an “example of survival” and predicted that their saga “will go down in history.”
Petro spoke to the press after returning from Cuba, where he signed a ceasefire agreement with representatives of the National Liberation Army rebel group.
The minors were traveling with their mother and another companion in a small plane, a Cessna 206, which disappeared from radar on May 1, in the vicinity of San José del Guaviare, in the south of the country, where it was headed.
The aircraft was found on May 8 in an upright position, with its front part against the ground, among dense vegetation.
The rescue teams recovered three bodies: that of the pilot, that of the children’s mother and that of a leader of the Uitoto indigenous community.
Hope that the children could be found alive was fueled by the discovery, in the jungle, of personal effects, as well as half-eaten fruit and a baby bottle.
The discovery of a “makeshift shelter made of sticks and branches” kept rescuers hoping there might be survivors.
The jungle is very dense and dangerous in this particularly remote area and searches are made difficult by the presence of wild animals, trees up to 40 meters high and heavy rain.
More than 100 soldiers with tracking dogs participated in the searches, with the help of members of the indigenous community.
The cause of the accident has not yet been determined.
According to civil protection authorities, the pilot had reported problems with the plane’s engine before it disappeared from radar.
Source: TSF
