- By Aashish Vashistha
- Sat, 10 Jun 2023 09:26 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Saturday said that as many as four children who survived a plane crash last month have been found alive on Friday in the country’s Amazon rainforest after 40 days of intense search operations.
Taking to Twitter, Gustavo Petro wrote, "A joy for the whole country! The 4 children who were lost 40 days ago in the Colombian jungle were found alive.”
¡Una alegría para todo el país! Aparecieron con vida los 4 niños que estaban perdidos hace 40 días en la selva colombiana. pic.twitter.com/cvADdLbCpm
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) June 9, 2023
His tweet also featured a picture of several adults dressed in military fatigues, taking care of the children sitting on tarps in the dense forest. Several military and indigenous people took part in the operation to rescue stranded children.
Colombian President said that the youngsters are an ‘example of survival’ and also predicted that their story ‘will remain in history’. While speaking to reporters on Friday, he said, “Their learning from indigenous s families and their learning of living in the jungle has saved them.”
“They are children of the jungle and now they are children of Colombia,” Petro further added.
The survivors of the deadly plane crash were identified as Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 13, Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 9, Tien Ranoque Mucutuy, 4, and infant Cristin Ranoque Mucutuy.
"Yes, the children have been found, but I need a flight or a helicopter to go and get them urgently," the children's grandfather Fidencio Valencia was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.
The deadly plane crash took place in the early hours of May 1, when the Cessna single-engine propeller plane carrying six passengers and a pilot declared an emergency due to engine failure.
The children’s mother who was identified as Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia, the pilot and indigenous leader lost their lives in the plane crash. Following two weeks of the crash, the crashed plane was found in a thick patch of Colombian rainforest, after the bodies were recovered from the area.
Following the disappearance of children into the deep Colombian rainforest prompted a huge military-led search operation.
(With Agency Inputs)