Four children, including baby, found alive in Amazon jungle 17 days after plane crash
- The children had survived a plane crash in the Colombian Amazon on May 1 that killed three adults
- The Colombian government deployed more than 100 soldiers and sniffer dogs for the search mission
Four Indigenous children, including an 11-month-old baby, have been found alive in the dense Colombian Amazon after a plane crash more than two weeks ago, President Gustavo Petro said Wednesday, declaring “joy for the country”.
Petro shared the news on Twitter, saying the children were discovered after “arduous search efforts” by the military.
Authorities had deployed more than 100 soldiers with sniffer dogs to search for the minors who were travelling in a Cessna C206 light aircraft that crashed on May 1, killing three adults.
Rescuers believe the children – who in addition to the 11-month-old included a 13, 9, and 4 year old – have been wandering through the jungle in the southern Caqueta department since the crash.
Earlier Wednesday, the armed forces said that search efforts intensified after rescuers came across a “shelter built in an improvised way with sticks and branches,” leading them to believe there were survivors.