Operation Hope searches for 4 children in the Amazon rainforest

Colombian troops and indigenous people are scouring swaths of the Amazon rainforest in an effort to find four children who have been missing for 20 days since a plane crash.

On May 1, a light aircraft carrying seven people crashed on a 350-kilometer (217-mile) journey from Araracuara to San Jose del Guaviare, a city in the Colombian Amazon. Minutes after the Avianline Charter Cessna 206 took off, the pilot reported engine problems.

The plane then disappeared from radar screens. The passengers included a Huitoto indigenous community leader and a woman named Magdalena Mucutui Valencia and her four children, also from the community.

On May 15 and 16, soldiers found the bodies of the pilot and two adults in the Caqueta area. The wreckage was stuck vertically in dense vegetation, with the nose section destroyed.

Colombian troops prepare to enter the Amazon rainforest to search for four missing children in Caqueta, May 19. Photo: AFP

Dogs later sniffed out a baby bottle near the scene. Rescuers also found shoes, clothes and a bitten piece of fruit.

The children, Lesly, 13; Soleiny, 9; Tien Noriel, 4, and Cristin, 11 months, are believed to have survived and are wandering in the woods.

Colombian authorities launched Operation Hope, deploying more than 100 soldiers, three helicopters and search dogs to search a large area. Rescuers faced many difficulties due to the difficult access to the area, along with harsh conditions such as heavy rain and wild animals.

One of the three rescue helicopters was equipped with a loudspeaker, broadcasting a message recorded by the children’s grandmother in the local language, telling them to “stop moving in the forest and wait for rescue.” On May 17, soldiers found a makeshift shelter made of tree branches. Sniper dogs also found scissors and hair ties.

The scene of a plane crash in the Amazon rainforest, Caqueta province, Colombia, May 19. Photo: AFP

Fidencia Valencia, the four children's grandfather, said they were used to the jungle and may have been hiding out of fear. "The eldest, Lesly, is very intelligent, very active and resourceful. Soleiny and Tien Noriel are also very good at navigating the jungle. They love each other very much," Valencia said.

"We are indigenous people so we have many advantages. We know the uses of trees, fruits, leaves. That is very necessary knowledge," he added.

But Valencia questioned why children would throw away something that “could be useful for survival.” “Apart from cutting, scissors are also weapons,” he said.

Information about the search was mixed on May 17, when the Colombian president said authorities had found four children. He retracted the statement a day later, saying the military and indigenous communities would continue their relentless search to bring the information the nation was waiting for.

The Colombian army deployed 50 more soldiers on May 19 to intensify the search effort. Indigenous people with experience trekking through the Amazon also joined the operation. The latest discovery was a footprint in the mud, believed to be that of one of the children.

Another threat is armed drug trafficking groups moving through the forest. “There are no villages in this area, even the indigenous people don’t know the area well,” Valencia said.

He believes his four grandchildren are alive and stressed that searchers must not give up. "The children have been in the forest for a long time, but with everyone's support and prayers, we will be able to find them," he said.

Duc Trung (According to AFP, Page 12 )

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