'The jungle watched over them': Colombia celebrates finding four children - and reveals 'secret weapon' | Israel Hayom

"Miracle! Miracle! A miracle!" the Colombian military announced when four children (three girls and a boy) were found missing in the heart of the Amazon on Friday, about a month after their plane crashed into the jungle.

The entire country felt solemn elation following President Gustavo Petro's dramatic announcement on Twitter on Friday that "Operation Hope" had ended with a resounding success when the four children were found after searching an area of about 320 square kilometers.

The president said that "the jungle was watching over them." The breakthrough that led to their discovery was a series of new traces found by a group of 10 soldiers and eight local natives. It was the sniffer dog that made it possible to find the traces and determine that they were fresh and that led to a tangible indication of the existence of the children, led directly to them.

Three helicopters participated in the search, equipped with loud loudspeakers that played messages for the children within a radius of about one and a half kilometers in their native language. Among the messages were recordings of the grandmother of four telling them to stay in the same place to make it easier to find them. "Leslie [the older girl who was probably the leader], I ask you to be quiet. If you hear the speakers, stand up so they can find you," Grandma Fatima said in the messages.

The president noted that the helicopters sent food and flyers so they could understand that they were being searched, in the language they were speaking, as well as flares to illuminate the area. Petro visited the four at the hospital on Saturday, where they are undergoing tests before being returned. One of the dogs, Wilson, got lost in the field, so the operation is still ongoing.

The plane crashed on May 1 in an accident in the heart of the Amazon in a disaster that claimed the lives of their mother and two other adults. But the children disappeared until Friday, when there was a dramatic breakthrough that led to a place where they found shelter.

The mystery of the whereabouts of Leslie, Soleini, Tin, and Charitsin — the oldest of whom is 13 and the youngest is still an 11-month-old baby — has fascinated the South American country for more than 40 days after they were not located at the crash scene. The massive operation involved over 100 special forces and over 70 local indigenous trackers and about 10 sniffer dogs.

During Operation Hope, matching traces were discovered, leftover snacks, a used diaper and a baby bottle near the scene of the disaster, but as stated, they were only located on Friday, and according to the family, the resourcefulness of the oldest girl - who knew the field - helped a lot. Petro said that during the six weeks they even had to protect themselves from a wild dog.

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