The Mucutuy siblings are rescued in the dense Amazon jungle. COLOMBIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY

The grandfather of four children who survived for 40 days in the Amazon jungle after their plane crashed has shared details of the children’s miraculous survival and rescue. The children were flown to a hospital in Bogota on Saturday to receive treatment, with doctors expecting them to remain in hospital for observation for up to three weeks. In clips shared by the Colombian Defense Ministry, the children’s grandfather detailed how the eldest sister helped her siblings survive 40 days in the Amazon. Narciso Mucutuy praised his 13-year-old granddaughter, the oldest of the Mucutuy children, for her “heroic role” in keeping her siblings alive. The children were identified as Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 13; Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 9; Tien Ranoque Mucutuy, 4; and one-year-old baby girl, Cristin. The children survived in the jungle for more than a month after their Cessna plane crashed on May 1 due to engine failure. Their mother, the pilot and another passenger were killed. Narciso said it was Lesly who found her mother dead, and pulled baby Cristin and her other siblings from the wreckage in a thick patch of the rainforest. The grandfather said that Lesly cared for her younger siblings during the traumatic ordeal. The children survived by eating cassava flour called farina, which is commonly used by indigenous tribes. Lesly also fed her baby sister slowly with water and milk from a bottle until it ran out. “Their learning from indigenous families and their learning of living in the jungle has saved them,” said Colombian President Gustavo Petro. The children initially stayed near the crash site for four days to wait for rescue, their grandfather said. The children then decided to move, while leaving signs at places where they slept in hopes that someone would track and find them. Meanwhile, the search team located the plane wreck and recovered the bodies of the three adults on board. When the children could not be found, this sparked hopes that they were still alive. A massive military-led search operation was then launched, with 150 Colombian special forces troops and over 70 indigenous scouts combing the forest to find them. When weeks passed with little clue of the children’s whereabouts, most of the rescue teams were called off and only 16 rescuers remained, including the father of two of the youngest Mucutuy children. The children were eventually found in an area in the dense jungle that was clear of trees. The children said that while in the jungle, they hid from helicopters, people or military men for fear of being punished. They encountered an army dog who stayed with them for a few days. The Belgian Shepherd went missing during the search operations and was last seen on May 18. The Colombian army has now launched a search for the missing dog. ICA/Expat Media
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