Published: Less than 30 min ago
1 of 3 Photo: AFP/TT
– We found the children: miracle, miracle, miracle!
The words reflect the mood in Colombia and belong to General Pedro Sánchez who led the search for the four missing children in the Amazon rainforest.
The siblings disappeared after a plane crash on May 1. Their mother, the pilot and another adult died in the crash. But the children were gone.
During the search, traces were found of the siblings – thirteen, nine, four and almost one year old – who are from the Huitoto indigenous people group. It was about finds such as half-eaten fruit, a diaper, footprints.
According to grandfather Fidencio Valencia, Huitoto children learn early to fish, hunt and gather plants. He tells AFP that they are used to living in the rainforest and singles out the eldest sibling, Lesly:
– The big girl is very intelligent. She is very active, she is strong.
Jaguars and snakes
On Friday, they were found after a huge search in endless terrain that houses jaguars, snakes and other predators.
President Gustavo Petro spoke of “a magical day” when he returned home from Cuba after signing a truce with the ELN guerrilla group.
“A joy for the whole country! The four children who disappeared 40 days ago in the Colombian jungle were found alive,” the president wrote on Twitter.
He also posted a photo showing rescue workers and military personnel tending to the seemingly exhausted children. One of them holds a bottle towards the youngest sibling, a boy of eleven months.
– They were alone, they managed it on their own. An example of survival that will go down in history, Petro said at a press conference.
“They are weak”
A video from the Department of Defense shows the children being ushered up to a helicopter that hovers in the dark above tall trees in the dense rainforest.
The trip went to San José Del Guaviare on the edge of the jungle where the children were transferred to an ambulance flight that took them to the capital, Bogotá. At the airport, the children were carried out on stretchers wrapped in thermal blankets
– They are weak. Now the doctors must be allowed to examine them, said President Petro.
Around 160 soldiers and around 70 people from the indigenous population with deep insights into the jungle participated in the search effort. According to army chief Helder Giraldo, the rescue workers covered a total of over 260 kilometres.
“In an operation unprecedented in our country’s history, something that seemed impossible has been accomplished,” Giraldo tweeted.
Everyone wants to know
Air transport is common in the area, where roads are few. The single-engine plane, a Cessna 206, was en route from the Araracuara region to San José Del Guaviare, a flight of 35 miles.
The pilot only alerted after a few minutes about engine problems. Then the plane disappeared from the radar. It was found hanging almost vertically in the trees. The three dead were at the impact site.
But no children.
During the search, thousands of flyers were dropped across the area with information, in both Spanish and the children’s native language, with survival tips and appeals to stay where they were. The military also lowered food parcels and water bottles.
Exactly how the four siblings did to cope remains to be told. Meanwhile, Colombia is celebrating the drama’s happy ending.