Children from the Uitoto indigenous tribe survived a plane crash and then more than two weeks lost in the Amazon rainforest. Their mother and two other adults died in the accident. The four children who had been missing for 17 days after the crash of a single-engine plane in southern Colombia have been found, the Colombian authorities said this Wednesday (17/05).
“After arduous search efforts by our Armed Forces, we found the four children missing after a plane crashed in Guaviare alive. A joy for the country”, said the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro.
The four children of the Uitoto indigenous people, including an 11-month-old baby, disappeared in the Amazon jungle after the small Cessna 206 plane they were traveling in crashed on May 1 with their mother, who was found dead earlier this week, along with two other adults. who were on board.
In addition to the 11-month-old baby, three children aged 13, 9 and 4 were missing. Colombian authorities did not immediately release further details about their health status.
Operation Hope
More than one hundred soldiers, aided by sniffer dogs, were engaged in the searches, which were intensified after the discovery of clues that suggested that the children might still be alive.
The Air Force joined the so-called Operation Hope with three helicopters, which flew over the dense jungle. One of them carried a loudspeaker “capable of covering an area of about 1,500 meters” with a message recorded by the children’s grandmother. In the Uitoto language, the woman told her grandchildren that they were being sought and asked them not to continue advancing through the jungle.
The location of a pair of scissors, a hair ribbon, a baby bottle and the remains of bitten wild fruits, among other objects, in the middle of the forest gave hope to the rescue teams, who also discovered an improvised shelter made of twigs and branches and believed that there would be at least one survivor.
Unknown cause of accident
The Cessna 206 had disappeared from radars on May 1st near San José del Guaviare, capital of the Guaviare department and an urban hub in the Colombian Amazon jungle, where it was supposed to go.
The causes of the accident have not yet been determined. According to civil defense, the pilot had reported problems with the plane’s engine before it disappeared from radars.
According to the Indigenous Organization of Colombia, the Uitoto live in harmony with the hostile conditions of the Amazon and preserve traditions such as hunting, fishing and gathering wild fruits.
as (Lusa, AFP, Efe, ARD, OTS)
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