Children rescued after 40 days in the jungle – How the miracle of the Amazon succeeded

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Rescuers with the missing children: 40 days of hope and fear

Photo: AP

Many Colombians had already lost hope. But General Pedro Sánchez, the commander of the search party, still believed in the miracle.

Yes, there is still hope, he told El País, even after 39 days in the jungle, even if his mission is like looking for a tiny flea in a giant carpet. They are indigenous." They would find their way in the forest.

One day after the interview, 40 days after four siblings had disappeared as a result of a plane crash, Commander Sánchez's men found the children: Lesly, 13 years old, "warlike in nature" according to her grandmother, apparently brought through her three siblings, who are nine, four and one years old. The baby experienced his first birthday in the jungle.

The pictures, which are now going around the world, show the survivors immediately after the rescue: indigenous people and soldiers stand around the siblings. The children sit on the floor with blank stares, thermal blankets enclosing their bodies. A soldier instills a drink in the baby. The children are said to be dehydrated. Her skin was marked by stitches. Otherwise, they seem to be doing well.

The children belong to the indigenous people of the Huitoto or Witoto. The jungle is familiar to her grandchildren, the grandmother said. They would have learned to survive in the jungle at an early age, and it is quite possible that the children would have been lost without these skills.

President Gustavo Petro was allowed to announce the rescue. "Today was a magical day," he said. Shortly before, he had negotiated a ceasefire with the guerrilla group ELN in Cuba, and immediately after his return he learned of the rescue. The cooperation between soldiers and indigenous people has been exemplary, he said. The whole country had cheered on the mission. "These children today are the children of peace and the children of Colombia".

On May 1, the Cessna had crashed in the jungle with the children, her mother and two other adults on board. Magdalena Mucutuy, the mother of the children, wanted to bring the siblings to their father. Manuel Ranoque is said to have been threatened by guerrillas, so he had apparently fled to the city, to San José del Guaviare, almost 300 kilometers southeast of Bogotá. Now the family was to follow.

The mother died in the crash of the Cessna

Halfway through, the more than 40-year-old machine crashed, in the middle of the jungle, near the Apaporis River. "Mayday, Mayday! The engine let me down again," the pilot radioed. Then his machine disappeared from the radar.

More than two weeks later, according to El País, a group of indigenous people found the Cessna and three adult bodies, including the children's mother. Clothing and other items nearby indicated that the children were alive. Why they, of all people, survived the crash is still unclear.

120 soldiers and 73 indigenous people, some of them from Cachiporro, the nearest town, then went together in search of the children, the president had ordered the rescue operation. The father of the children is also said to have joined the men.

The special forces searched with helicopters, drones, planes and dogs. The men fought their way through the forest on foot, they had covered the distance as long as that from Paris to Madrid, said Commander Sánchez. The name of their mission: "Operation Hope".

Snakes, jaguars, cougars and venomous snakes

According to media reports, it rains 16 hours a day in the jungle. Some of the trees rise forty or fifty meters into the air. It is often pitch dark. The jungle is home to snakes, jaguars and cougars. There are poisonous plants, often you can only see 20 meters away.

In the area, indigenous tribes are still suspected in Colombia without contact with the outside world. The suspicion quickly arose that the children might have been taken in by them. "I thought they would consider them their children there," President Petro said.

But apparently the children were wandering around alone near the crash site. Sánchez's men found their trail, discovered a baby bottle, scissors, shoes, diapers, chewed fruit and footprints.

The search party dropped survival kits and leaflets. Loudspeaker announcements, recorded by the grandmother, told the children not to move further away from the crash site.

Commander Sánchez was sure to the end that the siblings were alive. If they were dead, he theorized, his men would have found them long ago, apparently they kept moving.

Once, about 10 days ago, Sánchez believed his squad was very close. Up to 100 meters, he told the journalists, they had approached. In desperation, his men hung pipes. The children should be able to draw attention to themselves.

Rescue five kilometers from the crash site

In the end, the dropped survival packages probably also helped the search party. According to the Minister of Defense, the rescuers noticed that the children ate the rations, they were able to orient themselves by the empty packages. They combed the area close together. "Lesly," the men shouted over and over again, dragging out the last syllable.

On Friday, Sánchez's people found the children, five kilometers from the crash site. A helicopter pulled them up from the dark jungle. A plane then flew them to Bogotá, where they are now being examined in a military hospital.

The father was also on board the machine. The children spoke quietly with him, said Commander Sánchez. He himself had learned of the rescue on the radio, he said, according to the newspaper "El Tiempo". Milagro! Milagro! Milagro! Milagro!" his men had shouted, as previously agreed. A "miracle" for every child.