Bogotá (BLAZETRENDS).- The Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) assured this Wednesday that it received information that the four children who disappeared in a plane crash that occurred in the jungles of the south of the country were found alive and in good health. 17 days, in whose device three other adults were traveling, whose bodies were found lifeless.
“On the afternoon of this May 17 (…) information was received from the territory that ensures contact with the four boys and girls who were part of the people who were transported on the aircraft,” the ICBF said in a statement.
The agency, which works for the prevention and comprehensive protection of children and adolescents, pointed out that the minors, according to that report made by indigenous communities, “had been found alive and that they are also in good health.”
The ICBF announcement comes after neither the Military Forces nor the Civil Aeronautics (Aerocivil) have been able to confirm the news given by the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, that the four children had been found alive.
In this sense, the Institute indicated that after hearing the report “it assumed the discovery of the minors and activated the institutional procedures to establish contact with other government entities and initiate the route of restoration of rights” and gave the information to Petro so that ” communicate the news to the country.
“However, the Military Forces have not yet been able to establish official contact due to the difficult weather conditions and the difficulties of the terrain, so they tirelessly continue with the search efforts that have yielded several finds in the area and that would allow the corroboration of the information received by the ICBF from various sources,” the agency added.
Petro announced this Wednesday on Twitter that “after arduous search efforts by our Military Forces” the four children “who had disappeared in the plane crash in Guaviare” were “found alive.”
Search for the plane in the jungle
Last Monday the Cessna 206 plane, which suffered an alleged engine failure while flying between Araracuara, a remote town located on the border between the departments of Caquetá and Amazonas, and San José del Guaviare, capital of the department of Guaviare, was located in a rural area of the Palma Rosa hamlet, which is part of the municipality of Solano (Caquetá), with three of its occupants deceased.
The accident occurred in a thick and rainy area that makes the search work carried out by more than 100 members of the Military Forces more difficult, together with 3 canines trained in search and tracking, as well as indigenous people from the region, all supported by helicopters.
The last thing the Army and the Aerocivil found was “a shelter built improvised with sticks and branches”, where they found some “scissors and some ‘bows’ that women usually use to hold their hair”, and even pieces of fruit that supposedly could have been consumed by children.
Earlier, in another place, a dog that is part of the search found a bottle, which is presumed to have been used to feed the baby.
The plane, operated by Avianline Charter’s company, was found upside down, indicating that the crew may have attempted an emergency landing on gigantic trees with enormous roots.