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Four children believed to have survived a plane crash in the Colombian rainforest have been located, President Gustavo Petro announced on Twitter.
"After arduous search efforts by our Military Forces, we have found alive the 4 children who had disappeared due to the plane crash in Guaviare. A joy for the country," he wrote.
The Cessna 206 light aircraft crashed on May 1, killing three adults. The pilot reported having engine problems before the crash.
Over 100 soldiers were sent into the rainforest to locate the plane. After two weeks, they finally found the small plane and the bodies of the pilot, co-pilot, and the children's mother. They did not find the bodies of the children, ages 13, nine, four, and 11 months, but did uncover evidence that they may have survived the crash.
According to the BBC, rescuers found a child's drinking bottle, a pair of scissors, a hair tie, and some half-eaten fruit. They also discovered what appeared to be an improvised shelter made using sticks and branches.
The children are from the Huitoto indigenous group and are likely to have the knowledge and skills to survive in the dense jungle environment for an extended time.
"We think that the children who were aboard the plane are alive. We have found traces at a different location, away from the crash site, and a place where they may have sheltered," Colonel Juan José López said.
Rescuers stepped up their efforts, launching helicopters and broadcasting a message from the children's grandmother urging them to stay in one location.
While Petro announced the children had been found, the military said it had not yet made contact with them, causing confusion. The BBC reported that a pilot for Avianline, a local plane operator which owned the crashed plane, was told by villagers near the crash site that a local had rescued the children and was trying to bring them to the village of Cachiporro by boat. However, heavy storms in the area may have made the river too challenging to navigate.