2023-06-10 00:37:30
Children lost in the jungle for 40 days found alive
The Colombian president announced Friday evening that the four members of the siblings who disappeared in the jungle have been found alive.
Members of the Colombian army pose with the children found after 40 days of wandering in the Amazon.
AFP
“A miracle”, “a joy for the whole country!” After wandering on their own for forty days in the Amazon jungle of Colombia, the four children aged 13, 9, 4 and one year old who survived the crash of the small plane in which they were traveling were found alive.
“The four children lost 40 days ago in the Colombian jungle have been found alive,” President Gustavo Petro announced in a post on Twitter accompanied by a photo of soldiers and indigenous people participating in the operation to find the siblings.
Originally from the Uitoto indigenous group, the children had been wandering alone in the jungle since the May 1 crash of the Cessna 206 in which they were traveling with their mother, the pilot and a relative. All three adults died and their bodies were found by the military at the crash site. According to the military, rescuers found the children about 5 km west of the crash site. “They are weak. Let the doctors make their prognosis”, commented to the press Mr. Petro.
Photos released by the army show the children, in the middle of the thick vegetation, seated on tarpaulins, surrounded by soldiers and natives giving them food and drink. They are in jeans and filthy long-sleeved T-shirts for the two older ones, their feet wrapped in bandages. Two others are swaddled in survival blankets.
emaciated faces
The smallest, Cristin, is in the arms of one of her rescuers. She turned one while wandering the jungle with her siblings, according to Colombian press. The four faces are serious, appear very emaciated.
More than 100 soldiers accompanied by sniffer dogs and dozens of natives have been looking for the children between the departments of Guaviare and Caqueta since the discovery of the plane, vertical, nose planted on the ground, in the middle of thick vegetation . Also according to the army, the rescuers traveled a total of nearly 2656 km in this impenetrable jungle, in more than a month of research, always “with an intact faith”.
The children’s chances of survival seemed to decrease day by day, in this very hostile environment where jaguars, pumas, snakes and other predators roam. Insects of all kinds are particularly voracious there, and there is also the question of vital access to drinking water. The region is also an area of strong influence for the dissident FARC, an armed group with which peace talks were recently broken off.
The news of the children’s disappearance had gone around the world, with videos and photos of the search operations carried out by the army, which followed their trail with the discovery of a bottle, scissors, shoes, nappies , chewed fruit, footprints or makeshift shelters.
“Today has been a magical day which, without a doubt, fills us with joy”, insisted the Colombian president on his return from Cuba where the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), the last guerrilla still active in the country, reached a six-month ceasefire agreement.
The children “were alone, they succeeded on their own. It is an example of total survival that will go down in history. These children are therefore today the children of peace and the children of Colombia”, he said with satisfaction.
Wilson still nowhere to be found
Gustavo Petro also praised “the effective coordination between the military and the natives” during the searches, an “example of alliance for the country to follow”. “If the doctors advise to take them to Bogota or Villavicencio (center), it will depend on what they decide. I will try to speak to them in the morning,” added the head of state.
Wilson, a six-year-old Belgian shepherd dog who got lost in recent days during searches has still not been found, however, lamented the head of state.
Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez, for his part, paid tribute to the various army units, “unshakable and tireless”, as well as to the natives who took part in the research.
Army rescuers “immediately took care of and stabilized” the four siblings. They were to be transferred to San Jose de Guaviare (285 km southeast of Bogota). “Tomorrow, according to their medical assessment and their condition, we hope that they will be transferred to Bogota, to the military hospital,” added the minister. These children, the eldest and the smallest of whom are girls, are used to life in the jungle and know how to survive it, their relatives had assured.
The Air Force had joined the rescue operation called “Hope”, with three helicopters. Using a loudspeaker on board a device, a message recorded by the children’s grandmother was broadcast. Satellite technology had also been deployed to try to determine the path the children might have taken through the jungle.
You found an error?Please let us know.
1686370134
#Colombia #Children #lost #jungle #days #alive