COLOMBIA: Four indigenous children, including an 11-month-old infant, were found alive after a plane crashed more than two weeks prior in the deep Colombian Amazon, President Gustavo Petro said on Wednesday, expressing “joy for the country.”
Petro wrote on Twitter, saying that the children were discovered following “arduous search efforts” by the military, which has not yet confirmed the rescue.
More than 100 soldiers were deployed with sniffer dogs to find the young passengers after three adults, including the pilot and the mother of the children, died in the plane crash on May 1.
Rescuers had earlier stated that they believed the children, who also include a 13-year-old, a 9-year-old, and a 4-year-old, had been lost in the southern Caqueta department jungle since the crash.
Petro made no mention of the location of the children’s rescue or their survival in the bush on their own. The owner of the crashed aircraft, Avianline Charters, reported that one of its pilots in the search area was informed that the kids had been located and “were being transported by boat downriver and that they were all alive.”
The company, however, also said that “there has been no official confirmation” that the kids were entirely secure and that they were still at risk of not making it to safety because of the nearby thunderstorms.
The military had earlier claimed that their search efforts had been stepped up after rescuers discovered a shelter built in an improvised way with sticks and branches, which led them to suspect there were survivors.
On the jungle floor, among the branches, the military posted images showing scissors, shoes, and hair ties. Before the shelter was discovered, a baby’s bottle and some partially consumed fruit had been spotted.
On Monday and Tuesday, soldiers discovered the bodies of the pilot and two other adults after they had been flying from a jungle site to San Jose del Guaviare, one of the major cities in Colombia’s Amazon rainforest.
Ranoque Mucutuy, one of the deceased passengers, was the mother of the four kids.
Heavy downpours and enormous trees that can reach a height of 40 metres made the “Operation Hope” search challenging.
Three helicopters were utilised to assist, and one of them broadcast a message in the Huitoto language of the children’s grandmother ordering them to cease travelling through the jungle.
The authorities have not provided information regarding the cause of the jet accident.
Colombia’s disaster response agency said that the pilot had mentioned engine issues just minutes before the plane vanished from radars.
It is an area with few roads, and it’s challenging to get there by the river, so air travel is frequently used.
The kids are from the indigenous Huitoto community, also known as Witoto, who are renowned for coexisting peacefully with the wilderness jungle.
The community’s advancement of hunting, fishing, and gathering techniques may have aided the children’s ability to survive. Over many decades, assimilation, sickness, and exploitation have drastically diminished the population.
Petro, Colombia’s first Marxist president, announced the rescue. Since taking office in August of last year, he has failed to bring about the substantial changes he promised to make to the judiciary, healthcare, pensions, and labour laws.
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