The Colombian Armed Forces are still searching for four children who were traveling in the small plane that crashed in the Amazon rainforest of Guaviare on May 1. "That area has mystery, it's a mystery. The children are no longer guided by the girl, there has to be someone guiding, but it is not indigenous, nobody, it is something from that region," Fidencio Valencia, the brothers' grandfather, told Blu Radio.
The aircraft, which suffered an alleged engine failure while flying between Araracuara, a remote town located on the border between the departments of Caquetá and Amazonas, and San José del Guaviare, capital of the department of Guaviare, was found last Monday in a rural area of the hamlet Palma Rosa.
Inside was the pilot, Hernando Murcia Morales, and the two adults traveling with the children: Herman Mendoza Hernández and Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia, mother of the children. Their bodies were recovered Thursday, but the four children have yet to be located: Lesly Mucutuy, 13; Soleiny Mucutuy, 9; Tien Noriel Ronoque Mucutuy, 4, and Cristin Neriman Ranoque Mucutuy, 11 months.
Rescuers believe they are wandering the jungle looking for help.
"I am asking that the indigenous people of that region there, in the traditional part, if they know a spirit, if they know the language, help us," said his grandfather.
Whereabouts of four children who survived plane crash in Colombia cause confusion
May 18, 202301:15
[Colombia continues to search with hope for the four minors who were traveling in a plane that crashed in the Amazon jungle]
The place of the accident is a thick and rainy area that hinders the search work carried out by more than a hundred members of the Armed Forces, along with three dogs trained in search and tracking, as well as indigenous people of the region, all supported by helicopters. In addition, the authorities sent 50 Special Forces soldiers on Friday to support the operation.
"Maybe they got off the plane to do what they could, hungry, thirsty, what else could they do?"
The four children who survived a plane crash in Colombia 16 days ago appear alive
May 17, 202300:23
A message on Colombian President Gustavo Petro's Twitter added to confusion about the rescue operations by announcing Wednesday that the children had been found. However, the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) later said that, despite having received information that they were alive, rescuers have not been able to "establish contact" with the children due to "difficult weather conditions."
Yesterday, the president apologized: "I'm sorry for what happened. The Military Forces and indigenous communities will continue in their tireless search to give the country the news it is waiting for. At this time there is no other priority than to move forward with the search until we find them. Children's lives are the most important thing," he wrote on his Twitter account.
[Why the legalization of recreational cannabis use in Colombia is closer]
The last thing they found the Army and the Civil Aeronautics (Aerocivil) was "a shelter built in an improvised way with sticks and branches," where they found some "scissors and bunnies that women usually use to hold their hair," and even pieces of fruit that could be consumed by children.
Earlier, elsewhere, a dog that is part of the search found a bottle, which is presumed to have been used to feed the baby. The plane was found upside down, indicating that the crew may have attempted to make an emergency landing on giant trees with huge roots. Near the plane appeared footprints that gave rescue teams hope of finding the children alive.
Search continues for four indigenous children traveling in plane that crashed in Colombia
May 17, 202300:26
"The commandos of the special forces found in the surroundings an open bag, cosmetics, footwear and elements that would give clues and hopes to continue on the trail," they explained.
Given the confusion unleashed by the different versions issued by the authorities about the search for the minors, the relatives of the victims issued a statement in which they asked for moderation to the media and public entities.
[This young Colombian was detained hours earlier at the immigration center where he died]
According to the newspaper El Espectador, the families affirm that "physical and emotional health is not a game that can be erased and / or easily forgotten", so they ask for solidarity in the face of their silence.
They also asked the authorities to carry out investigations to determine the causes of the accident, and demanded that the Government monitor and protect airports in the Amazon region of Colombia.
U.S. Issues Alert to Citizens to Avoid Travel to Colombia Due to Violence Rates
May 16, 202300:21
"Many of us indigenous peoples are forced to make use of aircraft and runways without the minimum security conditions with high costs," the statement explained. So far the authorities have not given more details about the discovery of the minors or their state of health after this terrible odyssey.
Why did the children travel?
Manuel Ranoque, the children's father, is the governor of the indigenous reservation of Puerto Sábalo, a remote place in the Amazon rainforest that can only be reached by air or river.
According to local media, Ranoque had to leave the community several weeks ago due to the constant threats that criminal groups were making to his family. The community leader set out on a journey to the city of Villavicencio, in the Eastern Plains, where he planned to reunite with his family and move to Bogotá to start a new life. That is why on May 1 he asked them to come and see him as soon as possible.
"Dad told them, 'Come quick, quick, quick.' That's why my niece and children boarded that plane. He is to blame," Valencia said in an interview with El Pais newspaper.
Ranoque is participating in the search for his relatives. "I am willing to risk every last to look for them, because it is about my family and with the strength I have left, because I have many more, I want to give everything for everything, to have my family by my side to pamper them," Ranoque told Semana magazine.
The plane had already suffered an accident in the department of Vaupés, in July 2021. Although there were no human losses, the aircraft was badly affected. An aeronautical source assured the newspaper El País that the device was repaired without consulting the manufacturer (Cessna) "because it was cheaper for them to restore." In addition, he assures that in that accident there was structural damage but the plane was not subjected to revisions.
In the area of the Colombian jungle where the accident happened there are about 40 companies that operate as air taxis. They are charter flights and are usually carried out in old aircraft or in precarious conditions with a flight autonomy of six hours.
With information from Blu Radio, El Tiempo, El País and El Espectador
