More about the miraculous survival of four children after 40 days missing in the Amazon rainforest

Thanks to their survival instinct, four siblings, aged 13, 9, 4 and 1, survived when they were lost in the Amazon rainforest after a helicopter crash on May 1.

Thông tin thêm về sự sống sót thần kỳ của bốn đứa trẻ sau 40 ngày mất tích trong rừng Amazon

Four children were found in the Amazon rainforest by Colombian rescuers after 40 days of searching. (Source: Colombian Ministry of Defense )

On June 9, Colombian military special forces found four children missing in the Amazon rainforest more than a month after the helicopter crash on May 1.

The Cessana 206 plane, carrying seven people, crashed into the jungle while flying from Araracuara in Amazonas province to San Jose del Guaviare in Guaviare province. Before the crash, the plane sent out a distress signal due to engine failure.

The plane's pilot, Hernando Murcia Morales, Yarupari indigenous leader Herman Mendoza Hernández and the children's mother, Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia, died in the crash. The four children, Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy (13), Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy (9), Tien Ranoque Mucutuy (4) and 1-year-old Cristin Ranoque Mucutuy, were lucky to escape and were lost in the jungle.

A large-scale search operation led by the military, involving more than 100 Colombian special forces soldiers and more than 70 indigenous scouts, scoured the jungle for the children.

Hopes for the children's survival dwindled as the weeks passed.

Relatives of the children shared that they had “many sleepless nights worrying.”

Finally, a miracle happened, the four children were found in an area without trees.

During the days they were lost, the children ate “three kilograms of farina,” a coarse cassava flour commonly used by indigenous tribes in the Amazon, according to Mr. Suárez, the search team spokesman. After consuming the farina, they went searching for food in the forest.

The children told soldiers that they had “befriended” a dog, Wilson, who was part of the search force. The dog went missing on May 18 while searching the woods. Wilson stayed with the four children until he was found.

Mr. Suárez said that although malnourished, the four children were completely conscious when the rescue team found them.

According to Mr. Suárez, the four children's indigenous origins give them a certain immunity against jungle diseases and knowledge of the jungle, knowing what to eat and what not to eat, as well as finding water sources to survive.

After being found, all four children were taken by ambulance from the Colombian Air Force to a hospital in the Colombian capital, Bogota. Medical reports said the children were dehydrated and still unable to eat. However, the health of the four children was not in any serious danger.

According to Colombian Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez, what is needed now is to stabilize the health of the children.

On June 10, Colombian President Gustavo Petro visited the four children in hospital, welcoming their return and saying their survival “will be remembered in history.”

“They are children of the jungle and now they are children of Colombia,” President Petro added.

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