Four Children Survive 40-Day Plane Crash in Colombian Jungle: How They Survived

CNN Indonesia

Sunday, 11 Jun 2023 17:24 WIB

Jakarta, CNNIndonesia —

Four child found still alive in the forest 40 days since airplane accident. How can they survive?

The four brothers survived a small plane crash on May 1 that claimed the lives of the pilot, their mother and the other adult passengers.

Luis Acosta of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), quoted from AFPmentions that they eat seeds, fruits, roots, and plants that they consider edible from their childhood in the Amazon region.

The four children are members of the Huitoto Tribe, indigenous people in Colombia and Peru. They are 13 years old, 9 years old, 4 years old, and 11 months baby.

According to the National Organization of the Indigenous Peoples of Colombia (OPIAC), knowledge about what is and is not allowed to eat in the forest was obtained thanks to the indigenous knowledge that was taught to them.

“Survival of children is a sign of knowledge and relationship with the natural environment that is taught since the mother’s womb,” said OPIAC, in a release, quoted from AFP.

The “bush children”, as their grandfather called the four children, survived eating yucca meal that was aboard the wrecked plane, and picking up relief parcels dropped by search helicopters.

Similarly, Colombian military spokesman Pedro Arnulfo Sánchez Suárez said the four survived because they consumed coarse cassava flour (farina) which is usually used by indigenous tribes in the region.

“A few days after the accident, they ate the farina they brought there, but they (eventually) ran out of food and decided to look for a place where they could survive,” Suárez said. CNNSunday (11/6).

Even though they were weak when they were found, the four children were still alive.

“They were malnourished but were fully conscious and aware when we found them,” he added.

Currently all of them are recovering in a hospital in the Colombian capital, Bogota.

“They know what to eat and what not to eat and find the water that keeps them alive. This can’t be happening [jika mereka] I’m not used to that type of hostile environment.”

Joint team

During the search operation, soldiers cooperated with Indigenous trackers for 20 days.

More than 80 volunteers from indigenous territories in Caqueta, Putumayo, Meta and Amazonas, joined about 100 soldiers in what was called “Operation Hope”.

“We have a special relationship with nature,” said Javier Betancourt, another ONIC leader. “The world needs a special relationship like this with nature, to support people like the Indigenous people who live in the forest and care for it.”

President Gustavo Petro hailed what he called a “confluence of indigenous and military knowledge” which he said showed respect for forests.

Army helicopters broadcast footage of the children’s grandmother telling them in the Huitoto native language to stay in one place until rescue teams reached them.

While soldiers worked out operational details, indigenous trackers performed rituals to communicate with forest ‘spirits’, using mambe, a paste made of coca leaves and ashes, and chirrinchi, a fermented drink.

Using machetes, rescuers cut down trees and marked them with spray paint to guide the children.

Indigenous medicinal knowledge is also used to adapt to difficult jungle conditions, treating scrapes, splinters, insect bites, fatigue, and physical pain.

(ldy/arh)