Four children had been missing since May 1, when a plane crashed deep in the Amazon jungle, killing their mother and several other passengers on the flight. The children ages 13, 9, 4, and 1, had been traveling on a flight to the town of San Jose del Guaviare, Colombia. After the crash, they managed to survive alone in the Colombian jungle for 40 days before being found and rescued, surviving predators as well as armed groups known to reside there. The children’s survival has been attributed to their indigenous knowledge of nature, as they are members of the Huitoto people.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro praised the children for their survival skills and deep understanding of their environment. “They are children of the jungle, and now they are also children of Colombia,” he said, per BBC.
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The 13-year-old sister knew what foods to eat and helped her younger siblings survive.
Family members explained the children were able to survive in the jungle for nearly six weeks because it is part of their way as members of the Huitoto people. The children’s aunt, Damarys Mucutuy, explained the family played “survival games” together, reported BBC. She added that 13-year-old Lesly, “knew what fruits she can’t eat, because there are many poisonous fruits in the forest. And she knew how to take care of a baby,” the outlet reported.
The children’s grandfather, Fidencio Valencia, reportedly confirmed that the two oldest children, Lesly and Soleiny, were familiar with the jungle, per BBC.
Indigenous experts say the children survived because of their deep connection and with nature.
Even though the children’s knowledge of the jungle from being members of the Indigenous Huitoto people aided in their survival, experts have noted how extreme the environment of the jungle is.
Indigenous expert Alex Ruffino noted the area the children were in was “a very dark, very dense jungle, where the largest trees in the region are,” per BBC. The area the children were stranded in is also known to be home to jaguars, snakes, and mosquitos, in addition to having intense rainstorms that would have made search and rescue efforts even more daunting, the outlet reported.
Ruffino added that the story was really about the “spiritual connection with nature,” the outlet reported. “The jungle is not only green, but there are ancient energies with which the populations relate, learn, and help each other. It is difficult to understand this, I know, but this is a good opportunity for society, human beings to learn about the different worldviews that exist in the territories,” he said, per BBC.
Over 1,000 miles were covered in rescue efforts to find the children after the plane crash, even though the odds of finding them were not good.
The conditions for finding and rescuing the children were less than ideal, and hope was fading they’d be found alive, especially as more time passed since the plane crash. During the search Gen. Pedro Sanchez said, “This isn’t a search for a needle in a haystack, it’s a tiny flea in a vast carpet, because they keep moving,” per BBC.
The children were found on June 9, after a 40-day search, with the aid of specialist dogs, the outlet reported. An army chief noted around 1,650 miles had been covered to find and rescue the children, per NDTV.
The children’s father, Manuel Miller Ranoque, told reporters that his eldest daughter Lesly informed him that their mother did not instantly die in the plane crash, but passed away four days after, per NDTV.
“Before she died, their mom told them something like, ‘You guys get out of here. You guys are going to see the kind of man your dad is, and he’s going to show you the same kind of great love that I have shown you,” Ranoque said.
‘My mum's dead,’ one of the children said upon being rescued.
When she was rescued, the eldest child Lesly said she was “hungry” and another one of the children said, “My mum’s dead,” reported NDTV. A member of the search and rescue team, Nicolas Ordonez Gomes, said Lesly ran toward him with the 1-year-old in her arms, saying, “I’m hungry,” the news outlet reported. “One of the two boys was lying down. He got up and said to me: ‘My mom is dead,’” Gomes said, the outlet reported.
The children were flown to a hospital in the nation’s capital, Bogota, to receive medical treatment, per BBC. The defense minister and the president visited the children in the hospital and reportedly said the children could not hold down solid foods yet, but were recovering, per NDTV.
While they are now safe, questions have come up about the children's future.
All four children are safely recovering in the hospital. But according to ABC News, it is unclear what their futures will bring. Their grandparents have reportedly decided to petition for custody against the father of the two youngest children.
There may have been allegations of domestic abuse at play. “We are going to talk, investigate, learn a little about the situation,” Astrid Caceres, director of the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, said in an interview with BLU Radio on Monday. “The most important thing at this moment is the children’s health, which is not only physical but also emotional.”
