Video: The victory celebrations of Gustavo Petro, who was elected president of Colombia (Photo: Reuters)
Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Thursday retracted his claim that three children and an infant who survived a plane crash were discovered alive in the jungle after 18 days. A day after announcing the miracle, Petro deleted the original tweet announcing the matter, clarifying that search efforts were continuing.
"I'm sorry for what happened. I have decided to delete the tweet as the information received cannot be verified," Petro tweeted, adding: "The military forces and indigenous communities will continue their relentless search to give the country the news it has been waiting for. Children's lives are the most important thing."
Petro was forced to provide clarification on Wednesday's remarks after the Colombian military and local government failed to verify and confirm the president's claims, and no evidence was presented that the children were found in the jungle. Even before the president issued the clarification, there were many who doubted the announcement, since the president refrained from giving details about where the children were located, how they were rescued and how they survived alone in the jungle.
Sniffer dogs search for children rescued in a plane crash in the jungle in Colombia (Photo: Reuters)
Rescuers found leftover fruit that the children had eaten to survive (Photo: official website, none)
The owner of Colombian airline Avianline Charters, whose Cessna plane crashed into the jungle, said one of the airline's pilots at the search areas was told the children were found alive and "transported by boat." However, the company clarified that it had not received confirmation that the children were out of danger, as the thunderstorms at the site threatened the children's safe arrival.
Amid confusion among the local public, the president blamed the government Institute for the welfare of the family, claiming that they were the ones who informed him of the news about the rescue of the children.
In any case, more than 1 soldiers, equipped with sniffer dogs, continue their efforts to locate the three children and baby who were passengers in the plane that crashed on May 32. It should be noted that on the flight in question, the children's mother, the pilot of the plane and another adult lost their lives. Even today, local search and rescue forces remain optimistic, believing that the children are alive and wandering somewhere in the jungle in southern Caqueta (one of Colombia's <> provinces).
"After an arduous search by the army, we found four children alive," the president tweeted.
Four Colombian children have been found alive in the south of the country, more than two weeks after the plane they were flying in crashed into the jungle, President Petro said on Saturday. The president also claimed that the children were rescued by an army firefighter and the Civil Aviation Authority from deep in the jungle in Kakata Province. The plane that crashed on May 1 this month, following an engine failure, a Cessna 206, was carrying seven people.
"After a grueling search by the military, we found four children alive, who were missing since the crash," the president tweeted. The three adults on board, including the pilot, died in the crash, and their bodies were found inside the plane. The surviving children are siblings, ages 13, 9, and 4, as well as an 11-month-old baby. One of those killed was the mother of the four children.
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