(CNN) — Eating cassava flour helped save the lives of four children who were found alive in the Amazon jungle more than a month after their plane crashed, according to a Colombian special forces official.
Colombian special forces spokesman Pedro Arnulfo Sanchez Suarez said the children ate “three kilograms (six pounds) of cassava flour,” the coarse cassava flour commonly used by indigenous tribes in the Amazon region.
The flour is taken from the cassava plant (or cassava) which belongs to the family of root vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots and sweet potatoes, to which it is very similar. Its health benefits are often mentioned, but it should not be eaten raw to avoid health problems, such as poisoning.
Suarez added, “Days after the accident, they ate the farina (Latin word for flour) that they carried there… But (eventually) the food ran out and they decided to look for a place where they could survive.”
“They were malnourished, but they were sober and calm when we found them,” he added.
Being indigenous has allowed them to “acquire a certain immunity against diseases in the jungle and to know the jungle itself – to know what to eat and what not to eat – and also to find water to keep them alive – which was not possible (if They were) not used to this kind of hostile environment.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro posted a picture of finding the children on his social media accounts, saying, “A joy for the whole country! It seems that the four children who went missing 40 days ago in the Colombian jungle are alive.”
The Colombian president said the missing children, who were found after 40 days in the Amazon, survived like “children of the jungle”.
The four children – 13-year-old Leslie Jacobompier Mokotoi, Soleni Jacobompier Mokotoi (9 years old), Teen Ranoc Mokotoi (4 years old) and infant Christine Ranoc Mokotoi – are currently recovering in a hospital in the Colombian capital, Bogota.
They were taken there by an air ambulance operated by the Colombian Air Force on Saturday, officials said.
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Medical reports say they are dehydrated and still “can’t eat” – but they are fine and out of danger. “What is needed now is stabilization (of their health),” Colombian Defense Minister Ivan Velazquez told reporters gathered outside the hospital.
The children’s mother, Magdalena Mokotoi Valencia, was killed in a plane crash on May 1, leaving them alone and stranded in the Amazon jungle. Also killed in the crash were the plane’s pilot, Hernando Murcia Morales, and the indigenous Yarupari leader, Herman Mendoza Hernández.
The children’s disappearance sparked a massive army-led search that saw more than a hundred Colombian Special Forces soldiers and more than 70 Indigenous scouts comb the deep jungle.
The four are eventually found in a treeless area.
They told officials they had found a dog—a Belgian Shepherd named Wilson that belonged to the Special Forces. Suarez said the dog went missing on May 18. He added, “The children told us that they had spent three or four days with Wilson and that they (find) very thin.”
Hopes that the children would survive faded as the weeks went by.
Their relatives reported that they endured “many restless, sleepless nights” until the children were found.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who visited the children in hospital on Saturday, celebrated their return and said their survival “will go down in history”.
“They are the children of the jungle, and now they are the children of Colombia,” Pietro said.
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2023-06-11 17:48:33
