More than five weeks after the plane carrying them crashed in the jungle, four indigenous children from Colombia were discovered alive in the country’s south on Friday, according to President Gustavo Petro.
The military located the siblings close to the spot where the little plane had fallen, which is the border between the provinces of Caqueta and Guaviare in Colombia.
During the early hours of May 1, the Cessna 206 aircraft, which was transporting seven persons, experienced engine trouble while flying between Araracuara, in the Amazonas region, and San Jose del Guaviare, a city in the Guaviare province.
The bodies of three persons, who perished in the disaster, including the pilot and the children’s mother Magdalena Mucutuy, were discovered inside the aircraft. The four siblings, who are now 13, 9, 4, and a 12-month-old infant, all survived the collision.
The grandpa of the three girls and one boy, Narcizo Mucutuy, told reporters that he was overjoyed to hear that they had been saved.
As the grandfather of his grandkids who vanished in the Yari forests, he declared, “I am really glad right now.
The four kids could be seen with a group of soldiers in the middle of the jungle in pictures released by Colombia’s military.
“A delight for the entire nation” The four kids who were missing in the Colombian woods “appears to be alive,” Petro wrote in a tweet.
Petro posted on Twitter on May 17 that children had been discovered, but afterward removed the post, claiming the information was unsubstantiated.
“They were together, and I think they’re weak. Let the doctors examine them.” Petro told reporters on Friday, “They discovered them, and that makes me extremely glad. The kids had defended themselves on their own in the middle of the jungle.
Rescuers had previously discovered abandoned fruit that the kids had eaten for survival as well as makeshift shelters fashioned of wild vegetation with the help of search dogs.
The army and air force of Colombia’s aircraft engaged in the rescue efforts.
