Colombia's president says the miraculous discovery of four children alive in the Amazon rainforest after a plane crash nearly six weeks ago is a miracle of the jungle.
As soon as the four children were found on June 9, the Colombian President immediately posted on Twitter images showing search teams treating them in an open area in the forest, with the caption: “Joy for the whole country!”
“Learning how to survive in the jungle from indigenous families helped the children survive,” President Petro told reporters.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro posted on Twitter on June 9 a photo of search teams caring for children in a clearing in the forest. (Photo: Sputnik News)
When they were found, all four children were together. They are proof of a “miraculous survival that will go down in history,” President Petro said.
“They were children of the jungle,” he added. “Now they are back as children of Colombia.”
Lucho Acosta, coordinator of indigenous scouts in the Colombian Amazon, told CNN on June 10 that Colombian authorities were able to locate the group by hearing the cries of the youngest child.
“The children were in very poor condition. We found them by following the cries of the youngest. They were really tired and couldn’t move around as much as they had in the first few weeks,” Acosta said.
In the photos, the children appear emaciated. They are examined by doctors for injuries before being airlifted by the Colombian Air Force in a rescue plane to the Military Transport Air Force Command in the capital Bogota early on June 10.
The Colombian Air Force said a team of four medical staff, including a pediatrician and a neonatologist, treated the children on board the plane.
Data from Fightradar24 shows that the air ambulance that rescued the four children landed safely at the Military Transport Air Force Command in Bogota that same morning.
“We hope that tomorrow the children will be treated at a military hospital,” Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez said, praising the Colombian military and indigenous communities for helping in the search.
Sharing about the current condition of the four children, President Petro said that the children are very weak after 40 days trapped in the forest, they need food and will be evaluated by doctors for their mental condition. It is expected that the four children will have to stay in the hospital for at least two weeks for treatment after being rescued.
Trapped after plane crash
The four children, Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy (13 years old), Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy (9 years old), Tien Ranoque Mucutuy (4 years old) and Cristin Ranoque Mucutuy (11 months old), were the only survivors and were trapped in the forest after a Cessana 206 plane carrying a total of 7 people crashed in the Amazon forest on May 1.
The plane was en route from Araracuara in Amazonas province to San Jose del Guaviare, in Guaviare province, a city in the Colombian Amazon region. Before the crash, the plane sent out a distress signal due to engine failure.
A Cessana 206 plane carrying a total of 7 people crashed into the Amazon rainforest on May 1, killing 3 adults on the spot and 4 children missing in the forest. (Photo: NPR)
The mother, Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia, died in the crash along with two others. Their bodies were found inside the plane.
After the bodies of three adults were discovered at the scene but no children were found, a large-scale search operation led by the Colombian military involved more than 100 Colombian special forces soldiers and more than 70 indigenous scouts.
Dozens of volunteers from indigenous tribes also joined the search. Helicopters kept calling for the children to stay put, dropping boxes of food into the forest, hoping it would help keep the children alive.
Aircraft flying over the area fired flares to assist ground search teams at night, and rescuers used loudspeakers to play a recorded message from the children's grandmother, asking them to stay put.
For weeks, the search yielded only small clues, including footprints, a dirty diaper and a baby bottle. Family members said the eldest, Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, had some experience surviving in the jungle, but hope waned as the weeks passed without finding the children.
The children were eventually discovered in a treeless area that scouts had not been able to find before.
“The place where we found the children is about a three-hour walk through the jungle from where the accident happened. It’s a very short distance, but in the jungle it takes a long time to travel,” said Acosta.
The children told officials that they had a dog with them while they were trapped, but it later disappeared. It was a rescue dog that the soldiers had brought into the forest. The army is still searching for the dog.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the children's survival a "gift of life" and a sign that "they were cared for by the forest."
The Colombian president spoke to the children's grandparents, who had many sleepless nights worrying about their grandchildren.
“For us, this situation was like a lost direction. But we kept searching, trying to maintain the hope of finding the children, even though it was very slim. When we heard that we found them, we were very happy. I don’t know how to express this happiness, but we are grateful to God,” said Mr. Fidencio Valencia – the children’s grandfather, choking with emotion.
The children's grandmother, María Fátima Valencia, said she would hug them all and thank everyone as soon as they were reunited in their hometown of Villavicencio, where they live.
The Miracle of the Jungle
Fidencio Valencia, the children’s uncle, told the media that the children survived the crash with some cassava flour they had salvaged from the wreckage of the crashed plane. “After they finished eating the cassava flour, they started eating the seeds,” Valencia said.
Astrid Cáceres, head of the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare, said the children may have eaten the fruit because “it was fruit season in the forest”.
The Colombian military posted photos on Twitter on June 9 showing a group of soldiers and volunteers posing with children wrapped in thermal blankets. One of the soldiers is seen feeding the infant water.
After nearly six weeks of searching, the Colombian Armed Forces have found four missing children. (Photo: NPR)
Chief Acosta acknowledged the “exceptional efforts” of rescue teams and local authorities in searching for the children.
“Everyone contributed to the success of Operation Hope, we found the children alive and brought them back. We kept trying and hoping, and in the end our strength won,” he said.
Mr. Acosta shared that when he and his teammates received the news that the children had been found, they were very happy and emotional. “Many people were in tears because they were so happy, but it was a magical moment with a lot of strength and gratitude.”
The Colombian Ministry of Defense also shared on Twitter: “We did not stop searching for the children until the miracle happened.”
President Petro hopes to be able to talk to the children soon. “The most important thing now is to see what the doctors say about the children’s health. They have been through 40 terrible days, which is physically exhausting. We also need to check their mental health.”
Source: https://vtc.vn/4-dua-tre-song-sot-sau-40-ngay-lac-o-amazon-phep-la-cua-rung-xanh-ar799147.html
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