2023-06-13 02:30:09
A tarp to make a shelter, a bottle to collect water and above all a deep knowledge of the laws of the jungle allowed the four children lost for 40 days in the Colombian forest to stay alive.
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Here are five keys to understanding how Lesly (13), Soleiny (9), Tien Noriel (5) and Cristin (1) managed to survive in the Amazon rainforest following the crash on May 1 of the small plane in which they were traveling with their mother, a relative and the pilot, all three of whom died in the accident.
At first, they stayed near the wreckage feeding on cassava flour they found aboard the aircraft, said General Pedro Sanchez, head of search operations.
Then, “they ran out of supplies” and decided to look for a way out of the jungle, reported Henry Guerrero, one of the natives who took part in the search with the army.
Before walking away from the aircraft, the children collected a towel, a flashlight, two cell phones (with rapidly draining batteries), a music box and some clothes.
During their journey, they fed on “chontaduro (orange fruits) and wild mangoes (…) fruits of the jungle”, explained General Sanchez, calling their survival a “miracle”.
Luis Acosta, head of the indigenous guards of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), added that the children had “fed on roots, seeds and plants that they had identified and that they knew were edible”.
It is not clear at this stage whether or not the children were able to benefit from the food dropped by helicopter in the jungle.
The Ministry of Defense paid special tribute to Lesly, the eldest of the siblings: “We must recognize not only her courage, but also her talent as a leader. It is thanks to her that the three little ones were able to survive.
The children’s grandfather had said he was convinced during the search that his granddaughter had managed to get her siblings to safety. She “is very intelligent, she is very active, she is strong”, he assured, adding that the three oldest were “very strong to walk” in the jungle.
The natives were behind the discovery of the children, the two youngest of whom celebrated their birthdays while wandering.
The four miners were found regarding five kilometers from the wreckage on Friday, as their strength began to wane. “The first thing they told us was that they were hungry,” said Guerrero, explaining that they had been in the same place for four days.
“They mightn’t take it anymore,” he said, explaining that they had built a makeshift shelter using a tarpaulin. And “they had a little towel there on the floor.” Tien Noriel “was already very weak, he mightn’t walk anymore,” he added.
The children always remained, according to Henry Guerrero, near a stream. “They were filling a little soda bottle with water,” he said. “Nothing ever happened to them,” not a single animal attack or accidental injury. “They did very well,” he said.
Photos published in the local media showed them very thin. They are in “acceptable clinical condition”, General Carlos Rincon, doctor at the military hospital in Bogota, where the children are recovering, told the press.
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