• Latin America The heroic story of the four lost children in the Colombian Amazon

Few imagined they could still be alive. They had baptized as "Operation Hope" the search for the plane that crashed in the heart of the jungle, on May 1, and its seven occupants. But still, Colombia is still waiting, with its soul in suspense, for the appearance of the four children of the Huitoto ethnic group who would have survived the tragedy.

Lesly, 13 years old, Soleiny, 9, Tien Noriel, 4, and Cristin Neriman, only 11 months old, would be the protagonists of the feat and the miracle. The soldiers who arrived Tuesday at the wreckage of the plane only found the bodies of his mother, Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia, 33, the pilot of the plane and an indigenous leader, as well as numerous clues confirming that the children had not died in the crash.

The seven passengers left Araracuara, a tiny town in the Colombian Amazon, bound for San José del Guaviare, capital of the eastern Colombian department of Guaviare, on the first day of May. Shortly after takeoff, the Cessna 206, of the Avianline Charter's company, suffered a mechanical failure and the control tower lost track of it.

From the moment the aircraft disappeared, the Military Forces began an intense work to find it. A thick green blanket can be seen through the air, which is lost on the horizon, making it very difficult to detect any element on the ground. And for the sixty uniformed men assigned to the mission, the displacement by land was exhausting, especially in this season of heavy downpours, in a region of variegated jungle, irrigated by countless streams and with swampy areas. Hence the two weeks it took to see the remains of the device in the jungle area of the village of Palma Rosa, municipality of Solano, Caquetá, bordering Araracuara, and in which the soldiers arrived at that place.

Proof that they never lost faith that the passengers would appear alive was the message recorded by the children's great-grandmother, in Spanish and Huitoto, to be broadcast by military helicopters through powerful speakers as they flew over the jungle.

"Leslie, I ask you the favor, that I am your grandmother Fatima, you understand me, you have to be quiet because the Army is looking for you for your sake," the woman's voice repeated. "Daughter, I thank you for being still, standing, if you listen, daughter, standing for them to bring you."

On Wednesday afternoon (night in Spain), the president wrote on his Twitter account the news of the rescue of the children.

"After arduous search efforts by our Military Forces, we have found alive the 4 children who had disappeared due to the plane crash in Guaviare. A joy for the country," Gustavo Petro wrote.

In reality, the soldiers had only found clues that encouraged to think that the brothers were still alive. A "shelter built in an improvised way with sticks and branches, in addition to an open bag, cosmetics, footwear and elements that gave clues and hopes to find the minors," said the Civil Aeronautics.

The director of the ICBF (Colombian Institute of Family Welfare) also reported that natives of the area assured that the children were safe. "Information was received from territory that ensures contact with the four children who were part of the people who were transported on the aircraft," read a statement from the entity.

But with the passing of the hours, the brothers were still missing and Gustavo Petro had to rectify. "I have decided to delete the trill because the information provided by the ICBF could not be confirmed. I'm sorry for what happened," he wrote. "The Military Forces and indigenous communities will continue in their tireless search to give the country the news it is waiting for. At this time there is no other priority than to move forward with the search until we find them. Children's lives are the most important thing."

Given the uncertainty created, the father of the children, Manuel Ranoque, and other relatives, issued a statement asking for respect to all and regretting the follow-up they have made to the events for "the false expectations that have been disseminated."

In June 2015, a mother, Maria Nelly Murillo, 19, and her one-year-old son survived five days in the jungle after their plane crashed in Chocó, eastern Colombia. The pilot died and she was rescued with second and third degree burns on her body and a foot wound as a result of the accident. The baby was unharmed.

  • Colombia
  • Gustavo Petro

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