On Sunday, Colombian public television broadcast footage of the moment when the four indigenous children who had been missing in the Amazon jungle for 40 days met their rescuers, who were also indigenous.
The images, taken with a mobile phone, show the four visibly malnourished children, the youngest in the arms of one of the indigenous men, singing, smoking tobacco (a sacred plant among the community) and giving thanks with joy.
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The first images of the encounter between the Indigenous Guard and the lost children in the jungle #Guaviare.@RTVCcoColombian public media.
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One of the natives, Nicolas Ordoñez Gomes, told the studio that the first thing one of the children said to him when he picked her up was that he was hungry.
Another, after getting some food, said her mother had died and asked for bread and sausages.
The four children, ages 11 months, 4, 9 and 13 years old, had been missing in the Colombian Amazon jungle since May 1, after a plane crashed, and were found on Friday by the team participating in the search, including military. and indigenous.
The minors were traveling with their mother and another companion in a small plane, a Cessna 206, which disappeared from radars on May 1 near San José del Guaviare, in southern Colombia, where it was headed.
The aircraft was found on May 8 vertically, with the frontal area against the ground, among dense vegetation.
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.
The hope that the children could be found alive was fueled by the discovery in the jungle of personal belongings, partially eaten fruit and a baby bottle.
The discovery of a makeshift shelter made of sticks and branches kept rescuers hopeful that there might be survivors.
The jungle is very dense and dangerous in this very remote area and the search is made difficult by the presence of wild animals, trees up to 40 meters high and heavy rainfall.
Source: DN
