Thanks to their survival instinct, four siblings, aged 13, 9, 4 and 1, survived after getting lost in the Amazon rainforest after a helicopter crash on May 1.
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| Four children were found by Colombian rescuers in the Amazon rainforest after 40 days of searching. (Source: Colombian Ministry of Defense) |
On June 9, Colombian military special forces found four children missing in the Amazon rainforest more than a month after the helicopter crash on May 1.
The Cessana 206 plane, carrying seven people, crashed into a jungle area while flying from Araracuara in Amazonas province to San Jose del Guaviare in Guaviare province. Before the crash, the plane sent out a distress signal due to engine failure.
The plane's pilot, Hernando Murcia Morales, the Yarupari indigenous leader Herman Mendoza Hernández and the children's mother, Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia, died in the crash. The four children, Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy (13 years old), Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy (9 years old), Tien Ranoque Mucutuy (4 years old) and 1-year-old Cristin Ranoque Mucutuy, were lucky to survive and were lost in the jungle.
A large-scale search operation led by the military, involving more than 100 Colombian special forces soldiers and more than 70 indigenous scouts, scoured the jungle for the children.
Hopes for the children's survival dwindled as the weeks passed.
Relatives of the children shared that they had “many sleepless nights worrying.”
Finally, a miracle happened, the four children were found in an area without trees.
During the days they were lost, the children ate “three kilograms of farina,” a coarse cassava flour commonly used by indigenous tribes in the Amazon, according to Mr. Suarez, the search team spokesman. After consuming the farina, they went searching for food in the forest.
The children told soldiers that they had “befriended” a dog, Wilson, who was part of the search force. The dog went missing on May 18 while searching the woods. Wilson stayed with the four children until he was found.
Mr. Suarez said that although malnourished, the four children were fully conscious when they were found by the rescue team.
According to Mr. Suárez, the indigenous origin of the four children gives them a certain immunity against diseases in the jungle and knowledge of the jungle, knowing what to eat and what not to eat, as well as finding water sources to survive.
After being found, all four children were taken by ambulance from the Colombian Air Force to a hospital in the Colombian capital, Bogota. Medical reports said that the children were dehydrated and still unable to eat. However, the health of the four children was not in any serious danger.
According to Colombian Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez, what is needed now is to stabilize the health of the children.
On June 10, Colombian President Gustavo Petro visited the four children in hospital, welcoming their return and saying their survival “will be remembered in history.”
“They are children of the jungle and now they are children of Colombia,” President Petro added.
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