Four indigenous children who went missing for six weeks in the Colombian Amazon jungle after a plane crash have reportedly been found alive.
The siblings, Lesly, 13, Soleiny, nine, Tien Noriel, four, and baby Cristin who turned one while in the jungle, had been travelling in a light aircraft on May 1 when the plane is believed to have failed.
The crash killed the children’s mother Magdalena Mucutui Valencia, as well as the pilot and an indigenous leader.
There were no signs of the youngsters when the aircraft’s wreckage was recovered by the Colombian military – igniting a massive search operation in the southeast of the country to find them.
Originally from the Uitoto Indigenous group, the children have now been found alive, according to military sources quoted by the Colombian press.
They are said to be dehydrated and have insect bites, but are otherwise in good condition, according to BNO News.
Four indigenous children (pictured) who went missing for six weeks in the Colombian Amazon jungle after a plane crash have reportedly been found alive
The children had been missing for more than a month, igniting a massive search operation to find them
The siblings, aged one, four, nine and 13, had been travelling in a light aircraft on May 1 when the plane is believed to have failed
Sources from the Military Forces allegedly confirmed to news site EL TIEMPO that the children lost since May 1 have all survived.
The children’s grandfather told Noticias Caracol he was very grateful to the army for helping to find them, adding ‘I want to see them’.
Their grandmother added: ‘I never lost hope, I was always supporting the search. I feel very happy, I thank President Petro and my ‘countrymen’ who went through so many difficulties.’
President of Colombia Gustavo Petro also shared the good news on Twitter, writing a message which translates to: ‘A joy for the whole country!
‘The 4 children who were lost 40 days ago in the Colombian jungle appeared alive.’
Their reported discovery comes after Colombia’s president previously came under fire when he tweeted that the children had been found but later deleted it, saying the information could not be confirmed.
Satellite images previously revealed a path the children took from the plane wreck, and rescuers came across some of their belongings – a pair of shoes and a nappy – as well as a makeshift shelter and a half-eaten fruit.
Leaders from the Huitoto indigenous group expressed hope that the children’s knowledge of fruits and jungle survival skills should give them better odds of being found alive.
On the morning of May 1, a Cessna 206 airplane left a jungle area known as Araracuara heading for the town of San Jose del Guaviare in the Colombian Amazon.
Minutes after starting the 350km (217-mile) journey, the pilot reported problems with the engine and the plane disappeared from radars.
There were no signs of the youngsters when the aircraft’s wreckage was recovered by the Colombian military – causing a huge search operation in the southeast of the country to find them
The crash is believed to have happened due a mechanical failure on May 1. The wreckage was found wedged in thick vegetation, having apparently nosedived into the jungle
The missing children include four-year-old Tien Noriel Ronoque Mucutuy, pictured here with his mother Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia, who died in the plane crash
Colombian president Gustavo Petro (pictured) previously declared the rescue a ‘joy for the country’ – only for his military and search and rescue teams to clarify that they had not found the children
A picture released by the Colombian army showed a footprint found in the forest in a rural area of the municipality of Solano, Caqueta, in southeastern Colombia
Between May 15 and 16, soldiers found the bodies of the three adults and the debris of the plane, which was wedged vertically in the thick vegetation, its nose destroyed.
But the children – Lesly, 13, Soleiny, nine, Tien Noriel, four, and baby Cristin – were missing.
The children’s grandfather told AFP: ‘Yes, the children have been found, but I need a flight or a helicopter to go and get them urgently.’
Members of the indigenous community held traditional ceremonies ‘speaking to the jungle’ and asking it to give up the children, according to the government.