Children survive in jungle for 40 days after plane crash

Four children whose plane had crashed in the Amazon rainforest have been found alive by a rescue team, despite spending over a month alone. The four children, aged 13, 9, 4 and 1, had been travelling in a light aircraft with their mother, another passenger and a pilot when the plane’s engines failed. The pilot and passenger were killed during the crash, while the mother suffered fatal injuries. After four days, she told her children to leave her behind. The children came from the indigenous tribe of the Huitoto, and knew which plants were edible, how to find sources of potable water, and how to build a shelter. The only item they salvaged from the wreckage was a single bag of flour. Colombian President Gustavo Petro had prematurely announced the rescue of the children 23 days before their real rescue, which drew widespread condemnation. Nevertheless, the rescue team continued the search, believing the children had fled the crash site, and the search for the missing children gripped the entire country, and indeed, world. Petro was able to correctly announce the rescue of the children on Friday, after 40 days of surviving the jungle, saying that their tale of survival ‘will remain in history.’