Relatives, authorities and members of Operativo Esperanza, which rescued indigenous children who survived a plane crash, celebrated the discovery on Saturday as the minors recovered from the deterioration 40 days had caused in the Colombian jungle.
Colombia would digest on Saturday the dramatic rescue of four minors Indigenous people who survived 40 days in the Amazon jungle after a plane crash killed three adults, while the children’s relatives celebrated the discovery and thanked nature and the painstaking operation with a happy ending.
The minors – including a baby who turned one year old in the jungle – have been missing since May 1, when the Cessna 206 plane they were traveling in crashed in the Colombian Amazon in the south of the country. Three adults died, including the children’s mother and the pilot. The plane was en route between Araracuara and San José del Guaviare when its engine failed.
“My grandchildren lived in the jungle for 40 days, eating seeds and drinking water that Mother Nature has given them to live up to now,” said the children’s grandfather, Narciso Mucutuy, visibly moved on Saturday.
The grandfather, who spoke to reporters outside the military hospital where the children receive medical and psychological care, recounted how his grandsons Lesly Bonbaire (13 years old) and Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy (9 years old) spent more than a month in the inhospitable Surroundings survived jungle. Tien Noriel Ronoque Mucutuy (4 years old) and Cristin Neriman Ranoque Mucutuy (1 year old).
Fidencio Valencia, also the children’s grandfather, remains outside the hospital awaiting further progress from his grandchildren.
“Right now I’m here, I’ve just come from contemplating the grandchildren, first they have life, it’s very finished, but I know it’s in good hands, here’s the hospital, I know it’ll end well will, we” “I will progress all the time, I will be here,” Valencia told reporters on Saturday.
Relatives celebrate the rescue of four tribal children
dramatic rescue
Called Operation Hope, the Colombian police spared neither resources nor men to find the children. At least 11 aircraft were used in the operation, which involved more than 150 soldiers from the Military Special Forces Command, 73 indigenous people and a Belgian Shepherd Dog.
The commander of the armed forces, General Helder Giraldo Bonilla, reported that “the soldiers and the indigenous people traveled approximately 2,656 kilometers to locate them, facing all odds.”
“They made the impossible possible with the intact faith that has always characterized them. This is how it is today, thanks to the synergy of the efforts of the indigenous communities of Siuna and Araracuara with our special forces in the sector of the village of Palmarrosa, municipality of Solano. “In Caquetá we were able to obtain the location and rescue of these four minors,” said Bonilla.
Countries such as Chile, Israel and the United States offered satellite assistance with high-capacity imagery. Drones were also used in the search.
Also read Operation Hope: This was the search for the four children lost in the jungles of Colombia
In the dead of darkness, the Colombian military tied the children to a helicopter and then put them on a plane with medical equipment to the military hospital in Bogotá.
“I can simply say that they are alive,” said the commander of “Operation Hope” when he arrived with them in Bogotá at dawn this Saturday.
After the initial assessment, the multidisciplinary team caring for the minors indicated that they are in stable clinical condition, complete an assessment protocol with paraclinical tests and diagnostic images, and begin treatment for nutritional restoration and psychological and family support therapy .
“Lesly smiled at us, hugged us, told us about the puppy, Tien really wants to play, he’s bored in bed, he wants to go out and go for a walk,” explained Astrid Cáceres, director of the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare at the hospital.
In Photos | Children lost in the jungles of Colombia are taken to the hospital where they are recovering
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