“A joy for the country”, blew the Colombian president on Wednesday May 17 Gustavo Petro by announcing the discovery safe and sound of four children, including an eleven-month-old baby, who survived alone for more than 15 days in the Amazon jungle after the crash in early May of the small plane in which they were traveling with their mother who was found dead, just like the two other adults on board.
More than a hundred soldiers aided by sniffer dogs were on the “track” of the children after the discovery of clues giving hope that the unthinkable was possible.
The four minors, aged thirteen, nine, four and an 11-month-old baby will have to tell how they wandered and managed to survive for more than 15 days in the virgin forest between the department of Caqueta, where the small plane was found Monday vertically with the nose crushed to the ground in dense vegetation, and that of Guaviare, in the south of the Colombia.
Shadow areas
The aircraft, a Cessna 206, had disappeared from radar on May 1 in the vicinity of San José del Guaviare, where it was to go. Authorities first announced its discovery on Monday, with the lifeless body of the pilot on board, but no trace of the surrounding six other passengers. Then on Tuesday, they announced the discovery of the body of the mother and a third person, whose identity was not specified. The children, who belong to the same siblings and are Uitoto, an indigenous people, were missing.
Many gray areas persist at present on the course of events after the crash of the aircraft. The jungle is very dense and dangerous in this particularly remote region, and the search was made difficult in particular by the presence of wild animals, trees that can measure up to 40 meters high and heavy rains.
But on Tuesday the authorities announced that they had found personal effects, as well as partly eaten fruit. And a bottle near the device. Rescue teams then discovered a “makeshift shelter made of sticks and branches”, maintaining hope that there would be at least one survivor. In photos provided to the press, scissors and a tag of what appeared to be a hair band can be seen, new clues that helped guide rescuers.
Message
The Air Force joined the relief operation dubbed “Hope” with three helicopters. On board one of these devices, a loudspeaker “able to cover an area of approximately 1,500 meters” broadcasts a message recorded by the children’s grandmother. In the Uitoto language, the woman tells her grandchildren that they are wanted and asks them to stay where they are so that help can find them.
Authorities have not given the reasons for the family’s flight. But the inhabitants of this region, which is difficult to access, due to the lack of roads in particular, are often forced to travel on board small planes.
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 the gathering of wild fruits.
The causes of the accident have not yet been determined. According to civil protection, the pilot had reported problems with the plane’s engine before it disappeared from radar.
With AFP