Children reportedly survive plane crash, 16 days alone in Colombian jungle
There are reports that four children who were involved in a plane crash in the Colombian jungle have been located after more than two weeks in the forests of the Caqueta province.
On Wednesday, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro announced the news that the children, missing since 1 May, were thought to be alive. Though the president has since backtracked on these comments, saying that the news of the children was unconfirmed.
The children 13, 9, 4 and an eleven-month-old baby were among the seven passengers of a Cessna 206 Skywagon, which suffered an engine failure over the Amazonas province.
All adults died in the plane crash.
The pilot and the children’s mother were confirmed dead by the Colombian armed forces on Monday, but they could not find any of the young passengers. Hopes were raised by reports over high power radio that the children had been found by local communities.
President Petro reported “joy for the country” after reports of the children being seen alive in Dumar, an indigenous community near the crash site. On Wednesday night the president thanked the “arduous search efforts” of the army, which was widely reported on.
Miraculously the children appeared be the only survivors of the flight to San Jose del Guaviare.
Search teams found improvised shelter and items belonging to the children, according to news agency Reuters, giving hope that the children may have survived and were somewhere in the forest.
However, less than 24 hours after breaking the news, the president retracted his statement that the children had been found.
“I have decided to delete the tweet because the information provided by the ICBF (Colombia’s child welfare agency) could not be confirmed. I am sorry about what happened. The armed forces and the indigenous communities will carry on with their tireless search in order to give the country the news it is hoping for.”
The search continues, hopes children may be found alive
The search for the children has been ongoing, more than two weeks after the crash.
Over 100 soldiers and members of local indigenous communities located the plane on Monday but were unable to find the children.
Evidence of their belongings found away from the crash site and a simple shelter gave hope to search teams.
“We think that the children who were aboard the plane are alive. We have found traces at a different location, away from the crash site, and a place where they may have sheltered,” Colonel Juan José López told the BBC on Wednesday.
The search intensified this week. Worrying that the children may wander further into the jungle, helicopters were used to relay recorded messages from their grandmother into the forest, telling them to ‘stay put’.
Local news reported the confusion came following news that some of the search team had finally made contact with the children.
El Espectador said that the regional ICBF had received news via radio that a local community had found the children, who would be taken by boat to Cachiporro.
“This information was also transmitted to the Presidency of the Republic immediately, so that the President could share the news with the country,” said a statement from the ICBF.
However, they later admitted that they had not seen the children and had no way of confirming this report. Heavy rains have delayed river traffic and the search party continues to wait for an update.
The father of the missing children said he is not giving up hope. Talking to local station Caricol radio, he said that the children’s indigenous knowledge and upbringing with the Huitoto people would have aided their survival.
“We are in the final hours of this operation,” one of the search party, a member of the guardia de Honor de Colombia, told the radio station. “We are hoping for a miracle.”