A nation that suffered more than half a century of armed conflict, where Marxist guerrillas fought the army and right-wing paramilitaries often taking cover in the jungle. Some 70 indigenous trackers joined more than 100 members of Colombia’s military on a mission that brought the country together like few, if any, crises have. Colombia Defense MinistryĪmazon plane crash: Oldest sister praised for ‘heroic role’, search continues for missing rescue dog Wilsonīut finding them became a national cause. A portion of this image has been blurred by CNN to protect personal identity. They seemed doomed.įour children were rescued after 40 days in the Colombia jungle, following a plane crash. To say the children’s chances of survival were slim is an almost laughable understatement. The reason the family was on the tragedy-bound plane is that Manuel Ranoque, the father of the two youngest children, had to flee the area and move to Bogotá after being threatened by groups known as the dissidents, former members of the Marxist FARC guerrillas who refused to demobilize after the government signed a peace deal in 2016. The ground may have even hidden landmines from the days of the war.Īnd, in fact, the area is still home to armed militias. The jungle is rife with poisonous snakes, jaguars, insects and all manner of dangers. Rescuers said it rained 16 hours a day, making it nearly impossible to hear responses to the children’s calls. The virgin Amazon jungle is the thickest, most impenetrable of any I’ve ever seen in my travels. She cared for the youngest, baby Cristin, who turned 1 during the ordeal, along with Soleiny, 9, and Tien Ranoque, just 4. She grabbed a bag of yuca (cassava) flour found on the plane, along with some more supplies – a tarp, a blanket, netting, flashlights, according to rescuers – and set out, determined to survive. Though our rejoicing should be tempered with the cold reality that the children lost their mother in the tragic accident.Īfter the crash, Jacobombaire Mucutuy first pulled her youngest sister out of the wreckage and eventually the four children were on the move together, as Jacobombaire Mucutuy put to good use the lessons she had learned as an indigenous girl, a member of the Huitoto people. The more we learn about their story, the more it fills us with awe. Missing children found after 40 days in Amazon survived like ‘children of the jungle,’ Colombian president says NO ARCHIVES Colombian Military Forces/Reuters Colombian Military Forces/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. I’m thrilled to have been proven wrong.Ī soldier stands next to the wreckage of a plane during the search for child survivors from a Cessna 206 plane that crashed in the jungle more than two weeks ago in the jungles of Caqueta, Colombia May 19, 2023. I didn’t think there was any chance they’d be found alive. After all, I, too, had been mesmerized by the plight of the indigenous children wandering in the South American rainforest. Instead of writing about the arraignment of former President Donald Trump, I relished the chance to look away if only for a few hours. From all the conflicts, military, political and social that at times feel like they might tear apart the world. For a moment, we could take a break from the latest on the brutal war and man-made floods in Ukraine, from the divisiveness, the invective and the threats of violence in the United States. The story of survival quickly washed over the globe, bringing a much-needed respite – news with a happy ending – to a world where stressful, depressing and simply bad news seem to be the order of the day. It electrified a country whose people have endured more than their share of suffering. The news on Friday was almost too good to believe. Indeed, it looked like a miracle, a miracle made possible by the persistence of the rescuers and the resourcefulness of 13-year-old Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, the eldest of the children and the one who took charge after the crash.Ĭolombians had been riveted to the unfolding drama ever since rescuers reached the crash site deep in the Guaviare region, located in the southern central area of the country, two weeks after the May 1 crash, and found the bodies of the adults but no sign of the children.
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