Miracles do happen! Colombian kids found alive in jungle weeks after plane crash

More than five weeks after a Cessna 206 carrying seven people crashed in thick jungle, four Colombian children who were also travelling on the plane were found alive on Friday in the country’s south, President Gustavo Petro said.

The military rescued the four kids, belonging to an Indigenous community in Colombia, near the border between Caqueta and Guaviare provinces, close to the crash site.

The small plane was flying on a route between Araracuara in Amazonas province and San Jose del Guaviare in Guaviare provinces on May 1 when an engine failure compelled it to issue a Mayday alert.

Excluding the kids, all three other passengers – including their mother Magdalena Mucutuy and the pilot – couldn’t survive the impact. Their bodies were found inside the aircraft. The four siblings, aged between 12 months and 13 years, came out safely.

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Grandfather of the four, Narcizo Mucutuy, expressed his delight at the news of their rescue before reporters. “At this moment I am very happy,” he said.

The Colombian military shared a photo showing a group of soldiers with the three girls and one boy in the middle of the jungle. President Petro took to Twitter to reveal the news.

While he initially reported the kids had been rescued in a tweet on May 17, he later deleted the post, calling the information unconfirmed.

Talking to the journalists on Friday, Petro highlighted the children had defended themselves alone in the middle of the jungle. Search dogs as well as airplanes and helicopters from Colombia’s army and air force participated in the operations.

Rescuers had earlier found improvised shelters made with jungle vegetation and discarded fruit the kids ate to survive.