They had been in the military hospital in Bogota since Saturday morning, where they arrived in “acceptable clinical condition”. The four indigenous children, who were found in the Colombian jungle 40 days after the plane they were traveling on crashed, “are in the process of a satisfactory recovery,” authorities said on Monday.
Lesly (13), Soleiny (9), Tien Noriel (5) and Cristin (1) were found by soldiers and indigenous people in southern Colombia on Friday afternoon. After two days of treatment, “they are in a very good mood, they have colored and drawn. They like to talk (…), they are very willing,” said Adriana Velasquez, deputy director of the Colombian Institute for Family Protection (ICBF), in a video sent to the media.
VIDEO. Children rescued in Colombia: Images of the rescue released
The Army released a drawing attributed to children showing Wilson, a rescue dog, who went missing during the search. “The dog was with them, it went and came back (…) then it disappeared,” said Narciso Mucutuy, the children’s grandfather, in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
The four children have been found alone in the jungle since the crash of the small Cessna 206 plane they were traveling in with their mother, the pilot and a relative on May 1. All three died in the accident.
They subsisted on cassava flour found on board the plane as well as fruit found in the jungle.
family conflict
The two older sisters experienced “spikes of fever” on Monday while Tien Noriel was “watched” for “possible food contamination,” ICBF director Astrid Caceres told W radio.
Tien Noriel, the sibling’s only boy, was found so weak he could not walk, according to natives who first made contact with the children on Friday.
“The baby is still in intermediate care, not because of a serious illness, but because he is being monitored more closely due to his age,” Astrid Caceres added.
“They were able to go back to sleep, which helped them a lot,” she said. “The development is as expected (…) the prognosis remains at two to three weeks of hospitalization,” she said.
ICBF retains guardianship of the children until a family dispute is resolved. Relatives of the late mother allege that the father of the two youngest children abused her, which the person denies. Her maternal grandmother told AFP she is seeking custody of the four children.