Children missing for 40 days after plane crash in Amazon jungle found alive

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FILE - Search and rescue teams of Colombian Army conduct operation at the scene after a plane crashed in the jungle more than two weeks ago in Colombia on May 19, 2023. (Colombian Army / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombian authorities found four Indigenous children alive who survived a small plane crash 40 days ago and had been the subject of an intense search in the Amazon jungle that held Colombians on edge.

The children were alone when searchers found them and are now receiving medical attention, President Gustavo Petro told reporters upon his return to Bogota from Cuba, where he signed a cease-fire agreement with representatives of the National Liberation Army rebel group.

The president said the youngsters are an "example of survival" and predicted their saga "will remain in history."

The crash happened in the early hours of May 1, when the Cessna single-engine propeller plane with seven passengers and a pilot declared an emergency due to an engine failure.

The small aircraft fell off radar a short time later and a frantic search for survivors began. The three adults were killed, and their bodies were found in the area.

Two weeks after the crash, on May 16, a search team found the plane in a thick patch of the rainforest and recovered the bodies of the adults, but the small children were nowhere to be found.

Sensing that they could be alive, Colombia's army stepped up the hunt for the children and flew 150 soldiers with dogs into the area to track the group of four siblings, ages 13, 9, 4 and 11 months. Dozens of volunteers from Indigenous tribes also helped search.

On Friday, the military tweeted pictures showing a group of soldiers and volunteers posing with the children, who were wrapped in thermal blankets. One of the soldiers held a bottle to the smallest child's lips.

"The union of our efforts made this possible" Colombia's military command wrote on its Twitter account.