The four indigenous children found in the Colombian jungle 40 days after the crash of the small plane in which they were traveling “are in the process of satisfactory recovery”, authorities announced on Monday.
Lesly (13), Soleiny (9), Tien Noriel (5) and Cristin (1) were found by soldiers and indigenous people on Friday afternoon in southern Colombia. Since Saturday morning, they have been in the military hospital in Bogota, where they arrived in “acceptable clinical condition”.
After two days of treatment, “they are in a very good mood, they have colored and drawn. They like to talk (…), they are very well disposed”, indicated Adriana Velasquez, deputy director of the Colombian Institute of protection of the family (ICBF), in a video sent to the media.
The army released a drawing attributed to children featuring Wilson, a rescue dog who disappeared during the search. “The dog was with them, he left and came back (…) then he disappeared,” said Narciso Mucutuy, the children’s grandfather, in a video released by the Ministry of Defense.
The four children were found wandering alone in the jungle since the crash on May 1 of the small Cessna 206 plane in which they were traveling with their mother, the pilot and a relative, all three of whom died in the accident. They fed on cassava flour they found on board the aircraft as well as fruits found in the jungle.
guardianship of children
The two older sisters recorded “spikes of fever” on Monday, while Tien Noriel is “watched” for “possible food contamination”, ICBF director Astrid Caceres told W Radio. Tien Noriel, the only boy of the siblings, was so weak when he was found that he could not walk, according to the natives who made the first contact with the children on Friday.
“The baby is still in intermediate care, not because of a serious condition, but because he is being watched more closely due to his age,” Ms Caceres added. “They got back to sleep, which helped them a lot,” she said. “The evolution is proceeding as expected (…) the prognosis remains two to three weeks of hospitalization,” she said.
ICBF will retain guardianship of the children until a family dispute is resolved. Relatives of their deceased mother claim that the father of the two youngest children mistreats them, which the person denies. Their maternal grandmother told AFP she was seeking custody of the four children.