Colombian military spokesman Pedro Arnulfo Sánchez Suárez said the children had eaten “3 kilograms of farina,” a coarse cassava flour commonly used by indigenous tribes in the Amazon region.
The children foraged for fruits, leaves and even roots they knew were edible in the forest. Photo: Colombian Government Office
“For days after the crash, they ate the farina they had brought with them… but they eventually ran out of food and decided to look for other things to eat and possibly survive,” Suárez said. “They were malnourished but fully conscious when we found them,” he added.
“The children's indigenous background allows them to have a certain immunity against diseases in the jungle and knowledge of the jungle - knowing what to eat and what not to eat - as well as finding water sources that help them survive, which would not be possible if they were not used to that kind of dangerous environment.”
Medical reports said the children were dehydrated and still unable to eat regular food – but were otherwise healthy and out of danger. “What is needed now is to stabilize their health,” Colombian Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez told reporters gathered outside the hospital.
The children’s mother, Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia, survived the crash for four days but later died of her injuries, leaving them alone and stranded in the Amazon jungle. The plane’s pilot, Hernando Murcia Morales, and Yarupari indigenous leader Herman Mendoza Hernández also died in the crash.
The children's disappearance sparked a massive search operation that involved more than 100 Colombian army special forces soldiers and more than 70 indigenous scouts scouring the jungle. The four children were eventually found in a treeless area.
Hopes of the children’s survival had dwindled as the weeks passed, with relatives saying they had “sleepless nights worrying” about finding them.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who visited the children in hospital on Saturday, said: "Their survival will be remembered in history. They were children of the jungle and now they are children of Colombia."
Mai Anh (according to CNN)
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