BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — 4 Indigenous children survived an Amazon plane crash that killed 3 adults & then braved the jungle for 40 days before being found alive by Colombian soldiers, bringing a happy ending to a search-and-rescue saga that captivated a nation & forced the usually opposing military & Indigenous people to work together.
Cassava flour & some familiarity with the rainforest’s fruits were key to the children’s extraordinary survival in an area where snakes, mosquitoes & other animals abound. The members of the Huitoto people, aged 13, 9 & 4 years & 11 months, are expected to remain for a minimum of 2 weeks at a hospital receiving treatment after their rescue Friday.
The children were being rehydrated & cannot eat food yet.
“But in general, the condition of the children is acceptable,” Defense Minister Iván Velásquez said. They were travelling with their mother from Araracuara to San Jose del Guaviare when the plane crashed on May 1.
The Cessna single-engine propeller plane was carrying 3 adults & the 4 children when the pilot declared an emergency due to an engine failure. The small aircraft fell off the radar a short time later & a search for survivors began.
“When the plane crashed, they took out (of the wreckage) a fariña & with that, they survived,” the children’s uncle said. Fariña is a cassava flour that people eat in the Amazon region.
“After the fariña ran out, they began to eat seeds.”
Timing was in the children’s favor. They were also able to eat fruit because “the jungle was in harvest.”
“The minors were already very weak,” Astrid Cáceres, head of the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare said. “And surely their strength was only enough to breathe or reach a small fruit to feed themselves or drink a drop of water in the jungle.”
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