A month has passed since four children disappeared in the Amazon jungle in connection with a plane crash.
Now new traces, including footprints, have been found in the search, which gives hope of finding the children alive.
– It confirms two things – that they are alive and that we are very close, says rescue leader General Pedro Sanchez, reports the AFP news agency.
It was early in the morning on May 1 that the aircraft crashed in the Amazon in southeastern Colombia. On board the plane were the four children, 13, 9, 4 years and eleven months old, together with their mother, a leader from the family’s village and the pilot.
The three adults were found dead when the plane was located two weeks later – but the four siblings were missing without a trace and have been ever since.
Found new tracks in the search
Extensive efforts have been carried out in the search for the children. Among other things, they have released thousands of flyers over the rainforest with survival tips and with the call for the children to stay where they are and wait for rescue personnel. Air force helicopters and satellite images have also been used in the search, and the military has dumped both food parcels and water in the area.
Last week, among other things, a pair of shoes and a diaper were found in connection with the search – and on Tuesday, the military announced that they had found new footprints, and half-eaten fruit, in connection with the operation.
– This is a new footprint found about two kilometers from the last footprint we found, and it gives us a sign that the children are still alive, said Colonel Fausto Avellaneda in a video distributed by the military, reports AFP.
According to General Pedro Sanchez, some kind of camp site has also been found where the children are believed to have spent a night or two. Now you think you are about 100 meters from the siblings, but the difficult terrain and the dense vegetation make the work difficult.
Familiar with the jungle
In the area there are snakes, jaguars, cougars and other dangerous predators. But the children, who belong to the Colombian indigenous Huitoto people, learned early on to hunt and fish – something that increases their chances of survival.
According to the siblings’ grandfather, the children should be well acquainted with the jungle.