Four missing children were found Friday in the Amazon jungle more than a month after their plane crashed, CNN reports.
Hailing the discovery as “a joy for the whole country,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro praised the children, whose ages range from 11 months to 13 years old.
“They themselves are an example of survival that will go down in history,” Petro said at a press conference, according to NBC News. “Today, those children are the children of peace and the children of Colombia.”
Following the discovery, military officials flew the children by helicopter to Bogota for medical treatment. Authorities have not disclosed any details about their health, except that they appeared weak.
But the grandmother of the children, Fatima Valencia, said it was the oldest child – a big sister – who looked after her siblings and helped keep them alive.
“She gave them flour and cassava bread, any fruit in the bush, they know what they must consume,” Valencia said, according to BBC News. “I am very grateful, and to mother earth as well, that they were set free.”
A plane carrying the kids crashed on May 1 when its sole engine failed. Wreckage was found about two weeks later, including the bodies of three adults, one belonging to the kids’ mother.
The children were identified as 13-year-old Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 9-year-old Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 4-year-old Tien Noriel Ronoque Mucutuy and 11-month-old Cristin Neriman Ranoque Mucutuy. They are members of the Uitoto Indigenous community.
Crews who responded to the crash site found footprints they hoped belonged to the children, which suggested they were alive. A massive search effort then ensued by the Columbian military and Indigenous communities.
“The work between armed forces and Indigenous communities — who obviously know the jungle better than we do — that work was successful,” Petro said, according to NBC News. “Indigenous communities and the military found the children.”
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[Feature Photo: Rescue crews attend to the children/Colombian Military Forces]
