A story worthy of a Hollywood script. On May 1, a small tourist plane carrying three adults and four children crashed into the jungle of the Colombian Amazon.
Fifteen days later, after an intense search in this very difficult to access area, the four children aged 13, 9, 4 years and 11 months were found alive by rescuers. As for the three adults, including the pilot, their lifeless bodies were discovered.
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"After arduous search efforts by our military forces, we found alive the four children who had disappeared in the plane crash" in Guaviare, in the south of the country, said the Colombian president on Twitter, evoking "a joy for the country".
Después de arduas labores de búsqueda de nuestras Fuerzas Militares, hemos encontrado con vida a los 4 niños que habían desaparecido por el accidente aéreo en Guaviare. Una alegría para el país.
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) May 17, 2023
More than 100 soldiers accompanied by sniffer dogs were searching for the children after the discovery of the three dead bodies near the carcass of the Cessna 206. With trees up to 40 m long and the presence of wild animals, the search was very difficult in this very dense and dangerous jungle, especially because of the extreme weather conditions.
#Actualización | Hasta esta hora, los equipos de búsqueda y rescate han localizado los cuerpos sin vida de tres adultos en el área donde se encontró la aeronave. Agradecemos el apoyo brindado por las autoridades judiciales. pic.twitter.com/tLFXbe8nAC
— Aeronáutica Civil de Colombia (@AerocivilCol) May 16, 2023
On Monday, the authorities initially announced the discovery of the tourist plane with the body of the pilot on board, without trace of the other six passengers. The next day, they said they found the mother's body and that of a third person, before coming across clues left by the children.
"A makeshift shelter made of sticks and branches"
At the beginning of the search, rescuers discovered a bottle, nibbled jungle fruit, scissors, and a "makeshift shelter made of sticks and branches", suggesting that at least one child had survived the crash. Clues that allowed rescuers to find the trace of the four children belonging to the same siblings. The family belongs to the Uitoto, an indigenous people of Latin America.
Photos released by the army show the plane planted vertically in the middle of dense vegetation. The cause of the accident has not yet been determined. According to civil protection, the pilot had reported engine problems before the plane disappeared from radar in the vicinity of San José del Guaviare, where he was to go.
Authorities did not give reasons for the family's air travel, but residents of the area often travel in small planes, especially because of the lack of roads, AFP said.
According to the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), the Uitoto live in "harmony" in the jungle and maintain traditions such as hunting, fishing and gathering wild fruits.
