by Agence France-PressePresident Gustavo Petro said on Wednesday, “It is a matter of happiness for the country.” Petro said on Twitter that the children were found after “arduous search efforts” by the military, which has not yet confirmed the rescue.
More than 100 soldiers, along with sniffer dogs, were deployed to search for minors traveling in the plane that crashed on May 1, killing three adults, including the pilot and the mother of the children.
Rescuers had said they believed the children – including an 11-month-old as well as a 13-, nine- and four-year-old – had been wandering in the forest in the southern Caquetá department since the accident. Petro gave no details about where the children were rescued or how they survived alone in the woods.
Avianline Charters, the owner of the crashed plane, said one of its pilots in the search area was told the children had been found and were “being taken by ferry and they were all alive.”
However, the company also said that “there is no official confirmation” that the children are completely out of danger, and that the storm surge in the area still posed a risk for them to reach safety.
The armed forces had previously said that their search efforts were intensified after rescuers found “improvised shelters made with sticks and branches” which led them to believe there were survivors.
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In pictures released by the army, scissors, shoes and hair ties can be seen among the branches on the forest floor. A child’s drinking bottle and half-eaten pieces of fruit were found before the shelter was searched.
On Monday and Tuesday, troops found the bodies of the pilot and two adults who were flying from a jungle location to San Jose del Guaviare, one of the main cities in Colombia’s Amazon rainforest.
Ranok Mukutuy, one of the dead passengers, was a mother of four.
difficult terrain
Huge trees that could grow up to 40 meters tall and heavy rain made the “Operation Hope” search difficult.
Three helicopters were used for help, one of which flew a recorded message in their native Huitoto language from the children’s grandmother, asking them to stop going into the forest. Officials have not indicated what caused the plane crash.
Colombia’s disaster response body said the pilot reported engine trouble just minutes before the plane disappeared from radar. It is an area with few roads and is also difficult to reach by river, so air transport is common.
The children are from the indigenous Huitoto community, also known as Witoto, who are known to live along the remote forest. The community develops skills in hunting, fishing, and gathering, which may have helped the children survive. Exploitation, disease and assimilation caused a rapid reduction in the population over several decades.
Petro is Colombia’s first left-wing president to announce a rescue. He came to power last August but has been unable to introduce fundamental reforms to labor laws, healthcare, pensions and the judiciary that he promised during his campaign.