More than three weeks after a small plane crashed in the Colombian rainforest, there are possible new leads for the four missing children. Sneakers, a diaper and a towel were found just over 500 meters west of the crash site in the department of Caquetá, Colombian media reported on Wednesday, citing the search party of soldiers and indigenous people.
420 meters northwest of the crash site
Accordingly, another diaper, a cell phone case and the lid of a baby cup were also discovered 420 meters northwest of the jungle crash site. “Judging by the condition of these items, the children were likely there between May 3 and May 8, suggesting that the four children may have survived the accident,” Colombian newspaper El Tiempo said, citing the military.
The wreckage of the crashed Cessna 206 © (c) APA/AFP/Colombian Army/DISCLOSURE (DISCLOSURE)
The searches called “Operation Hope” for the four brothers aged 13, nine and four years and eleven months were intensified on Monday with satellite images and new personnel. According to “El Tiempo”, the jungle between Caquetá and Guaviare is so dense that “you can’t see more than 20 meters and you can barely see the sun’s rays through the trees”.
Three people died in the accident
The brothers crashed on May 1 in a Cessna 206 propeller plane in the department of Caquetá. Her mother, the pilot and an indigenous leader died in the accident. On May 18, soldiers looking for the children found a makeshift shelter made of leaves and twigs, as well as half-eaten fruit.
The proverbial search for a needle in a haystack © (c) APA/AFP/Ercito Colombiano/HANDOOUT (HANDOOUT)
The children belong to an indigenous community and, according to media reports, were with their mother on their way to the capital, Bogotá, where their father fled after constant threats from armed groups. Their knowledge of the region may have helped them survive in the wild after the accident.