BOGOTA (Reuters) – Four children from Colombia’s indigenous community were found alive in the south of the country more than two weeks after their plane crashed into the dense jungle, police said. President Gustavo Petro made the announcement on Wednesday.
The children were rescued by soldiers, firefighters and civil aviation officials from a jungle in Colombia’s Caqueta department.
A Cessna 206 with seven people on board was flying between Araraquara, Amazonas, and San Jose del Guaviare, a city in Guaviare. .
“Four children missing in the Guaviare plane crash have been found alive after an intensive search by the military,” Petro said on Twitter.
Three adults, including the pilot, died in the accident and their bodies were found inside the plane. Four children aged 13, 9, and 4 and an 11-month-old infant survived the impact.
Preliminary information from the civil aviation authority that coordinated the rescue operation said the children had evacuated the plane and left for the rainforest to seek help.
Aided by search dogs, rescuers had previously found discarded fruit that children ate to survive, as well as makeshift shelters made from jungle plants.
Colombian Army and Air Force planes and helicopters participated in the rescue operation.
Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta, written by Oliver Griffin and David Gregorio
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