‘Get out of here’: Mother of rescued Colombia children survived 4 days after jungle crash

BOGOTA - The mother of the four indigenous children rescued after 40 days lost in the Colombian jungle remained alive for four days before succumbing to her injuries suffered in the May 1 plane crash, her widower said on Sunday.

The Uitoto indigenous children – aged 13, nine, five and one –

were found alive on Friday by rescuers,

having wandered alone in the Amazon rainforest since the crash of a small Cessna 206 plane on which they were travelling with their mother, the pilot and another adult.

All three adults died in the accident, but Mr Manuel Miller Ranoque said his injured wife survived briefly – with their children beside her.

“The one thing that (13-year-old Lesly) has cleared up for me is that, in fact, her mother was alive for four days,” Mr Ranoque told reporters next to the military hospital in Bogota where the children are being cared for.

“Before she died, their mom told them something like, ‘You guys get out of here. You guys are going to see the kind of man your dad is, and he’s going to show you the same kind of great love that I have shown you.’”

“They will tell their stories and you will hear them,” Mr Ranoque added. “It’s not easy to ask them because the children went 40 days without eating well, so I have not been able to get information from the oldest child.”

Ms Magdalena Mucutuy, the children’s mother, was an indigenous leader herself.

It was in part

down to the local knowledge of the children

and indigenous adults involved in the search alongside Colombian troops that the children were ultimately found alive despite the threats of jaguars and snakes, and relentless downpours which may have prevented them from hearing possible calls from search parties.

“The survival of the children is a sign of the knowledge and relationship with the natural environment that is taught starting in the mother’s womb,” said the National Organisation of Indigenous Peoples of Colombia.

They also ate seeds, fruits, roots and plants that they identified as edible from their upbringing in the Amazon region, Mr Luis Acosta of the National Indigenous Organisation of Colombia told AFP.

Defence Minister Ivan Velasquez, who visited them in the hospital with President Gustavo Petro, said they are recovering, but cannot yet eat solid food.

The youngest two children, now five and one, spent their birthdays in the jungle, as Lesly, the oldest at just 13, guided them through the ordeal.

“It is thanks to her, her courage and her leadership, that the three others were able to survive, with her care, her knowledge of the jungle,” Mr Velasquez said.

General Pedro Sanchez, who led the search operation, credited indigenous people involved in the rescue effort with finding the children.

“We found the children: Miracle, miracle, miracle!” he told reporters.

Army chief Helder Giraldo said rescuers had covered over 2,600km in total to locate the children.

“Something that seemed impossible was achieved,” he said on Twitter.

In addition to the jaguars, snakes and other predators, the area is also home to armed drug smuggling groups.

President Petro touted the success as a “meeting of indigenous and military knowledge” that had demonstrated a “different path towards a new Colombia”. AFP, REUTERS