Footprints on the ground or wild fruit with tooth marks falling on the road are clues that make rescuers believe that the 4 children are still alive in the Amazon forest.
Four Huitoto children survived a plane crash on May 1 in the Colombian Amazon. Rescuers initially expected the worst, but clues kept them hopeful.
After more than 40 days in the jungle, Colombian rescuers announced on June 9 that they had found the group of children. They were taken to a hospital in the capital Bogota in a very weak condition and are expected to stay there for at least two weeks.
Colombian soldiers take care of children after finding four children in the forest on June 9. Photo: Reuters
The children’s mother and two pilots died when the plane crashed in the Amazon rainforest, apparently due to engine failure. The dense forest where the plane crashed is home to jaguars, snakes and other predators.
The first clue, footprints on the ground, helped rescuers determine that the four children had survived and left the scene after the accident. Then authorities discovered traces of a makeshift shelter, along with a pair of scissors and a hair tie, which added to their confidence.
Wild fruit with teeth marks found was a clue that the four children were still alive and fending for themselves. In the search effort, rescuers cut down trees and painted markers to guide the group.
An army helicopter played a recording of the children's grandmother telling them in the indigenous Huitoto language to stay put and wait for rescuers.
Children's footprints in the Amazon rainforest. Photo: AFP
The army is also working alongside indigenous peoples to search for the four children. More than 80 volunteers from indigenous tribes in the provinces of Caqueta, Putumayo, Meta and Amazonas have joined about 100 soldiers in the search mission, dubbed “Mission Hope.” This is unusual because in many indigenous territories of Colombia, relations between ethnic communities and the armed forces are tense.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro visited the children in hospital, stressing that the success of the operation was due to a combination of indigenous knowledge and the military.
Vu Hoang (According to BBC, AFP )
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