A custody battle has broken out between relatives of four indigenous children who survived a plane crash and 40 harrowing days alone in the Amazon rainforest in an extraordinary display of youthful resilience that has captivated people around the world.
The siblings, ages 1 to 13, remained hospitalized Monday and were expected to remain there for several more days, a period that Colombia’s child protection agency is using to interview family members to determine whether To determine who should take care of them after their mother’s death. May 1 accident.
Astrid Cáceres, head of the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, said in an interview with BLU radio that the children were assigned a caseworker at the request of their maternal grandparents, who are in custody along with the father of the two youngest children. “We’re going to talk, investigate and learn something about the situation,” Cáceres said.
“The most important thing right now is the health of the children, which is not only physical but also emotional, the way we support them emotionally,” she said. On Sunday, grandfather Narciso Mukutui accused Manuel Ranok of beating his daughter, Magdalena Mukutui, telling reporters the children would hide in the woods when a fight broke out. Roanoke acknowledged to reporters that there had been trouble at home, but described it as a private family matter and not “gossip to the world”.
Asked if he had assaulted his wife, Ranok said: “Verally, sometimes, yes. Physically, very rarely. We had more verbal fights. Ranok said he had to go to the hospital.” His two eldest children have not been allowed to see. Cáceres declined to comment on why that was.
What happened on that fateful day?
The children were traveling with their mother from the Amazonian village of Arracuara to the city of San José del Guaviare on May 1 when the pilot of the Cessna single-engine propeller plane declared an emergency due to engine failure. The plane fell off radar a short time later, and a search began for the three adults and four children on board. For more than a month, the children survived on cassava flour and seeds, as well as some of the fruits found in the rainforest, which they were familiar with as members of the Huetoto indigenous group.
They were finally found on Friday and taken by helicopter to the capital Bogota, and then to a military hospital where they were given psychological services and other support. The authorities have sought to do this in a culturally sensitive manner, with spiritual ceremonies and meals arranged for the children.
mother lived for days
While they were recuperating, the children surprisingly told relatives about their time in the woods. Roanoke said Sunday that the oldest, Leslie Jacobombire Mukutuy, said her mother lived for about four days after the accident before she died.
Pediatrician and director of the Center for the Community-Engaged, Dr. Robert Sege, said a safe environment to talk openly about their experience and whatever emotions they’re feeling, whether it’s grief or survival But be proud, will be the key to recovery. Medicine at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.
How children deal with trauma can vary by age, he said. “Our brain is always trying to make sense of things,” Sage said. “And if we’re at different developmental stages, the way we perceive it will be different.”
miraculous rescue operation
The plane was found in a thick part of the rainforest two weeks after the crash. The bodies of all three adults were recovered, but there was no trace of the children, raising hopes that they may be alive.
Troops in helicopters dropped boxes of food into the jungle, and the planes fired flares at night to illuminate the ground for round-the-clock search crews. Rescue workers used a speaker to blast a message recorded by the children’s grandmother, telling them to stay in one place.
The children were finally found last Friday in a small clearing about 5 kilometers (3 mi) from the accident. General Pedro Sánchez, who led the search effort as head of the army’s Special Operations Command, said that rescuers had passed within 20 to 50 meters (70 to 160 ft) of the site on a couple of occasions, But missed.
Relatives and officials have praised Leslie for 40 days guiding her younger siblings through the jungle, which is teeming with snakes, poison frogs, mosquitoes and other animals. The youngest turned 1 when they went missing.
Sege said, “God forbid most teenagers are put in that position, but she was clearly able to gather her wits and figure out what needed to be done.” “It’s really important. As children grow up, they should remember not only that tragedy but also how they kept that child alive.”
(with inputs from AP)