Following a small plane crash in Colombia, four children from an indigenous community were found alive in the jungle two weeks after the incident. An 11-month-old child was among the four children killed in the incident, according to a statement by President Gustavo Petro. During the announcement, the President called the event a “joy for the nation”. On Twitter, the President said that the children in the jungle have been found after “arduous search efforts” by the forces. However, there is no confirmation yet on whether the children have been rescued.
In the incident, a Cessna 206 aircraft, traveling between Arracuara and San José del Guaviare in the province of Amazonas, crashed into the jungle after issuing a Mayday alert due to engine failure. The incident took place in the early hours of May 1 when there were seven passengers on board.
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In his tweet, President Petro said, “After a difficult search by our military, we have found alive four children missing after a plane crash in Guaviare. A matter of joy for the country.”
Rescuers previously said they thought the children, including an 11-month-old baby as well as a 13-year-old, a 9-year-old and a 4-year-old, had been lost in the southern Caqueta department’s forest since the accident.
Petro made no mention of the location of the children’s rescue or of them surviving in the bush on their own. The owner of the crashed plane, Avianline Charters, reported that one of its pilots in the search area had been informed that the children had been located and “were being taken by boat downriver and they were all alive.”
The company said that “there has been no official confirmation” that the children were completely safe and that they were still at risk of not being brought to safety due to a nearby storm.