Colombian Children Lost In The Amazon Jungle Rescued After 40 Days
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In what can only be described as a miracle, four children from an indigenous community in Colombia were rescued after being stranded in the Amazon rainforest for 40 days. On May 1, 2023, 13-year-old Lesly, nine-year-old Soleiny, four-year-old Tien Norie and 11-month old Cristin, were flying with their mother to the town of San José del Guaviare. Midway through the journey, their small airplane suffered an engine failure and crashed in a remote part of the Colombian Amazon jungle.
Due to bad weather, the Colombian army could not get to the crash site until May 16, 2023. When they arrived, they found the bodies of the mother, the pilot, and another adult. However, the four children were missing. The only clues of their presence were a baby bottle, some small shoes, and tiny footprints near the wreckage.
The kids, who belong to the Huitoto tribe, had been taught the skills to survive in the jungle. This gave the rescue team, comprising 150 military personnel and members of local indigenous groups, hope that the four may still be alive.
On June 9, 2023, 40 days after the plane crashed, an indigenous rescue team finally found the children. They were huddled together just three miles (4.8 km) away from the crash site. It was later discovered that Colombian soldiers had come close to the children several times. But the kids, scared by their presence, had hid each time they heard them.
Officials credit the kids' survival to Lesly. The resourceful 13-year-old used her extensive knowledge of the jungle to seek out edible fruits to feed her siblings. She fed her 11-month-old sister a mixture of water and cassava flour they had brought on the plane. The kids also found a box of food air-dropped by the army. At night, the four sought refuge under a mosquito net and plastic tarp retrieved from the plane.
Though still frail and shaken from the ordeal, all four children are expected to fully recover. Not surprisingly, their remarkable tale of survival has attracted global interest and made them national celebrities in Colombia.
Resources: Guardian.com, NPR.com, CNN.com, NBCnews.com
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100 Comments
jadaturflerover 1 yearI'm really glad that the children are know okay I hear stories and read Stories about this kind of stuff all the time and it's just so heart Breaking- jadaturflerover 1 yearThat's really bad
- addyrover 1 yearBut what about the mom
chs2020-2023over 1 yearShe died along with other adults and the pilot.😢
royiscoolover 1 yearShe died 😔
flower1212over 1 yearPoor kids
behappytopeopleover 1 yearPoor family
firesover 1 yearIts great they were rescued
slytherin4lifeover 1 yearI am so happy they were found. I sometimes cry when I hear that children are missing or very sick or dead. God save the military!
bookwrmover 1 yearI feel so bad for those kids. Who knows what would have happened if they were not already trained to survive. So glad they were found and not out there for longer than they needed to be. So glad they were rescued.😮😮
ssslllaaayyyover 1 yearMe too- slytherin4lifeover 1 yearI feel the same way.
deafgirlhistoryover 1 yearOh my...gosh! Glad that those children were found safe! I just couldn`t believe my eyes when I saw the picture of the Colombian Army soldiers were with those children after being lost for past 40 days! It is terrible about their mother, though.
penelopewebbover 1 yearI can't believe they were already trained to survive. That is an absolute blessing. It is terrible about their mom though. So glad lesly knew how to take care of a baby also. So crazy!
naturelover59over 1 yearthat's really incredible, along with amazing! I'm not sure that i wouldn't panic or survive for only, like, 2 days!
