Photo: Colombia’s Armed Force Press Office
Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that four children who were lost in the Amazonian rainforest after a plane crash have been found alive.
"A joy for the whole country!" Petro wrote on Twitter.
The children survived after their small plane crashed in a remote area of the dense jungle. Their mother, Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia, the pilot, Hernando Murcia Morales, and Yarupari indigenous leader Herman Mendoza Hernández were all killed in the crash.
The four children, Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 13, Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 9, Tien Ranoque Mucutuy, 4, and infant Cristin Ranoque Mucutuy, spent 40 days in the jungle before they were found by military search crews.
When crews finally arrived at the crash site, they found evidence that kids survived and had wandered away from the area. A few weeks ago, Petro claimed the children had been found, but unfortunately, those reports turned out to be untrue.
Over 100 soldiers and 70 indigenous scouts continued to search the rainforest and played an audio recording of the children's mother telling them to stay put because people were looking for them.
The children were together when they were found by the rescue workers. The kids were evaluated by doctors before being airlifted to a military hospital. Officials said the children were weak and needed food but did not provide any other details about their conditions.
"For us, this situation was like being in the dark. We walked for the sake of walking. Living for the sake of living because the hope of finding them kept us alive. When we found the children, we felt joy, we don't know what to do, but we are grateful to God," their grandfather, Fidencio Valencia, said, according to CNN.