Four children, including a baby, survived 15 days alone in the Colombian Amazon

“A joy for the country,” rejoiced Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday, announcing the safe and sound discovery of four children, including an eleven-month-old baby, who survived alone for more than 15 days in the Amazon jungle after the crash in early May of the small plane in which they were traveling with their mother, who was found dead along with the two other adults on board.

Four children aged 11 months to thirteen years

More than a hundred soldiers aided by sniffer dogs were on the “track” of the children after the discovery of clues giving hope that the unthinkable was possible.

The four minors, aged thirteen, nine, four and an 11-month-old baby will have to tell how they wandered and managed to survive for more than 15 days in the virgin forest between the department of Caqueta, where the plane was found Monday vertically with the nose crushed to the ground in dense vegetation, and that of Guaviare, in the south of Colombia.

The causes of the accident not yet determined

The aircraft, a Cessna 206, had disappeared from radar on May 1 in the vicinity of San José del Guaviare, where it was to go. The causes of the accident have not yet been determined. According to civil protection, the pilot had reported engine problems before the plane disappeared from radar.

Authorities first announced the discovery of the aircraft on Monday, with the lifeless body of the pilot on board, but no trace of the surrounding six other passengers. Then on Tuesday they announced the discovery of the body of the mother and a third person. According to local media, the latter was a leader of the indigenous Uitoto community to which the other passengers belonged. The children, who belong to the same siblings, were missing.

The search was made difficult by the presence of wild animals

Many gray areas persist the course of events after the crash. The jungle is very dense and dangerous in this particularly remote region. The search was made difficult in particular by the presence of wild animals, trees up to 40 meters high and heavy rains.

But on Tuesday, the authorities announced that they had found personal effects, as well as partly eaten fruit. And a bottle near the device. Rescue teams then discovered a “makeshift shelter made of sticks and branches”, maintaining hope that there would be at least one survivor.

In photos provided to the press, scissors and a tag of what appeared to be a hair band can be seen, new clues that helped guide rescuers.

A relief operation called “Hope”

The Air Force joined the relief operation dubbed “Hope” with three helicopters. On board one of these devices, a loudspeaker “able to cover an area of ​​approximately 1,500 meters” broadcast a message recorded by the children’s grandmother.

In the Uitoto language, the woman told her grandchildren that they were wanted and asked them to stay where they were, so that rescuers could locate them. Authorities have not given the reasons for the family’s air travel. But the inhabitants of this region, which is difficult to access, due to the lack of roads in particular, are often forced to travel on board small planes.

According to the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), the Uitoto live in “harmony” in the jungle and maintain traditions such as hunting, fishing and the gathering of wild fruits.