4 Colombian children found alive 40 days after Amazon jungle plane crash

Associated Press

Colombia: Four indigenous children who disappeared 40 days ago after surviving a small plane crash in the Amazon jungle were found alive Friday, Colombian authorities announced, ending an intense search that gripped the world. The children were alone when searchers found them and are now receiving medical attention, President Gustavo Petro told reporters. The president said the youngsters are an “example of survival” and predicted their saga “will remain in history.”

The four siblings, aged 13, nine, four plus an 11-month-old baby, were from the Huitoto Indigenous community. Although malnourished, none of the children were in serious condition, even the youngest child, who spent his first birthday in the jungle.

No details were immediately released on how the youngsters managed to survive on their own for so many days. The crash happened in the early hours of May 1, when the Cessna singleengine propeller plane with six passengers and a pilot declared an emergency due to an engine failure.

The small aircraft fell off radar a short time later and a frantic search for survivors began. Two weeks after the crash, on May 16, a search team found the plane in a thick patch of the rainforest and recovered the bodies of the three adults on board, but the small children were nowhere to be found.

Sensing that they could be alive, Colombia’s army stepped up the hunt for the children and flew 150 soldiers with dogs into the area to track the group of four siblings, ages 13, 9, 4 and 11 months. Dozens of volunteers from Indigenous tribes also helped search. The children have since been transported to the town of San Jose de Guaviare for health checks and psychological assessments.