4 children, including baby, found after their plane crashed in Amazon jungle 40 days ago
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • last year • 22 commentsBy: Dennis Romero, Alex Lo and Michelle Acevedo
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Four Indigenous children missing in the Amazon jungle for 40 days following the crash of their small plane were found Friday.
"They themselves are an example of survival that will go down in history," Colombia's president, Gustavo Petro, said at a news conference. "Today, those children are the children of peace and the children of Colombia."
It wasn't immediately clear if the children — who ranged in age from 11 months to 13 years — were in good health, and Petro said it would take some times for doctors to make that determination.
Members of the army assist four Indigenous children who were found alive in the Colombian Amazon jungle in this image released on Friday.Colombian Presidency via AFP - Getty Images
"Their health must be frail," Petro said, speculating that they would need to gradually get back to consuming prepared foods instead of what sustained them in the jungle.
"We need to see into their mental health," he said.
The children, members of the Uitoto Indigenous community, were identified as Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 13; Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 9; Tien Noriel Ronoque Mucutuy, 4; and Cristin Neriman Ranoque Mucutuy, 11 months.
The plane's sole engine failed and it crashed May 1, its nose-first wreckage found more than two weeks later in the Colombian jungle. Three bodies, all adults, including the children's mother, were found at the site, officials said.
But the four weren't there.
Authorities had hope they might be found alive after footprints believed to belong one of the four were discovered in late May. Colombian authorities continued to search for the children using tracking dogs on the ground.
Search for children missing in Colombia plane crash yields hope
Petro credited the country's military as well as members of Indigenous communities for the miraculous find.
"The work between armed forces and Indigenous communities — who obviously know the jungle better than we do — that work was successful," he said. "Indigenous communities and the military found the children."
The Associated Press contributed.
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To have survived in a jungle for 40 days is either a tribute to their knowledge of how to survive in the jungle or else it's miraculous.
Evening..would say it's a bit of both.. been following this story all the way through and brilliant news the 4 kids have survived...
I was wondering what they would have fed the baby, and then I realized there were probably banana trees in the jungle.
Was once trained in how to survive in a broad range of environmental conditions.
That they survived in their own geographical area is not surprising.
Kids tend to be much more resilient than adults can imagine.
One also has to consider that many indigenous children in Central and South America are taught how to survive in the jungle from a very young age.
And so we are now witness to both the necessity for and success of that education.
Evening... probably do what the Kooris do here out in the bush....the eldest child/adult chews the food to mush for the baby and then feds it to them etc..
Water wouldn't have been to much of a problem and certainly their local knowledge would have been a tremendous help in surviving.. all credit to the eldest child to keep them together and alive.. truly amazing...
The elder two would have taken responsibility for the younger two, that is how it works with indigenous people, and their local and inherent knowledge of their world.
This was taken from a Columbian website about the people of the Amazon.
Was once tossed into a jungle.
The only thing better than a knife is two knives.
As long as it wasn't naked and afraid....Haha
Wasn't a TV show. No haha.
Was SERE.
Did my jungle survival training in the Philippines at Cubi Point with some instructors being indigenous Negrito tribespeople and boy did those folks know their business. They would bring their kids into the classes to show that anybody could survive.
They sure did Doc, a couple of friends of mine did their training there. I did mine in Hawaii.
I did SERE training at Warner Springs in California. That was pretty intense.
Did you evade and escape the cactus there?
Not completely. I was more concerned with the guys speaking Russian, wearing Russian uniforms, and beating up on me. Seems one of them had it in for Corpsmen.
I don't know how they did it, but I am grateful to read this remarkable feat of survival. There is even wildlife to manage avoiding. . . . And who, pray tell, changed the baby? Stopped the crying which could have 'awoken' the whole animal forest to their presence?
Alive! Alive! Alive!
Lesly Jocobombaire Mucutuy - I presume we have you to thank for this success story - THANK YOU!
The indigenous peoples of the Amazon are very resourceful, CB. The jungle is very dense there with visibility less than 20 feet and it rains 16 hours a day.
They are far more attuned to the natural environment in which they live than any Western person can comprehend and this is generally true with indigenous people worldwide. Indigenous peoples worldwide have used diapers for centuries from the Inuit in the Arctic using sealskin to moss and various type of plants for North American, Central, and South American Indians. As you can see Indigenous have been civilized for centuries.
That's powerful, Kavika. Very powerful.
It's safe to say that before diapers were invented for civilized society, babies crawled/walked around naked.
I'm thankful that all of the children were found.
Some brave kids.