Five weeks after a plane crash in Colombia's Amazon jungle, four kids were still alive.
In this handout photo issued on June 9, 2023, Colombian military personnel tend to children who survived a Cessna 206 plane crash that occurred on May 1 in the Caqueta forests, near Caqueta and Guaviare.
Bogota: More than five weeks after their plane crashed into a dense jungle, four indigenous children from Colombia were discovered alive in the country's south on Friday, according to President Gustavo Petro.
The military located the siblings close to the spot where the little plane had fallen, which is the border between the provinces of Caqueta and Guaviare in Colombia.
During the early hours of May 1, the Cessna 206 aircraft, which was transporting seven persons, experienced engine trouble while flying between Araracuara, in the Amazonas region, and San Jose del Guaviare, a city in the Guaviare province.
The bodies of three persons who perished in the disaster, including the pilot and the children's mother Magdalena Mucutuy, were discovered inside the aircraft. The now one-year-old infant, the four siblings, who were ages 13, 9, 4, and one, survived the collision.
The grandpa of the three girls and one boy, Narcizo Mucutuy, told reporters that he was overjoyed to hear that they had been saved. Being the grandfather of his grandkids who vanished in the Yari forests, he declared, "I am really glad right now.
The four kids could be seen with a group of soldiers in the middle of the jungle in pictures released by Colombia's military.
"The entire nation should be happy! The four kids who were missing... in the forest of Colombia appeared to be alive "Petro stated in a Twitter message.
Petro posted on Twitter on May 17 that children had been discovered, but afterwards removed the post, claiming the information was unsubstantiated.
"They were together, they are frail; let the medical professionals evaluate them. They were located, which makes me extremely glad "Adding that the kids had defended themselves on their own in the middle of the jungle, Petro told journalists on Friday.
Rescuers had previously discovered abandoned fruit that the kids had eaten for survival as well as makeshift shelters fashioned of wild vegetation with the help of search dogs. The army and air force of Colombia's aircraft engaged in the rescue efforts.