Four Children Survive Plane Crash in Amazon Jungle by Eating Cassava Flour and Berries

Their mother died in a plane crash over a month ago

Eating cassava flour and berries saved the lives of four children found alive in the Amazon jungle more than a month after their plane crashed, CNN reported. The four siblings – 13-year-old Leslie Mukutui, 9-year-old Soleini, 4-year-old Tien and 11-month-old baby Christine – are from the local Huito tribe. The dramatic events surrounding the children unfolded after they traveled aboard a small plane on May 1 from the city of San Jose de Guaviare to Araraquara on the Amazon River. However, the machine crashed, as a result of which the children’s mother, the pilot and a local leader of their tribe died. In the tragedy, the children survived, and the authorities began a large-scale search after finding eaten fruit next to the plane.

“They ate three kilograms of farina (coarse cassava flour), commonly used by indigenous tribes in the Amazon region. Their local origin has enabled them to acquire

known immunity to disease

in the jungle and knowing the jungle itself – knowing what to eat and what not to eat and finding water kept them alive. This would not be possible if they were not used to this type of hostile environment,” the Colombian authorities announced. The children are currently recovering in a hospital in the Colombian capital, Bogota, after being flown there by air ambulance. Doctors explain that they are dehydrated, bitten by insects and still “can’t eat food”, but they are fine and out of danger.

A key role in the survival was played by 13-year-old Leslie, who made a makeshift camp for her relatives using hair ribbons. The children’s aunt says that they were prepared for the ordeal they experienced thanks to the game “Survival Game” where they made small camps. In photos released by the military, the hair ribbons can be seen among the branches in the jungle.

“Leslie knew what fruit she couldn’t eat,

because there are many poisonous ones in the forest. And she can take care of a baby,” adds the aunt. The children’s grandmother, Fatima Valencia, explained that the 13-year-old girl was used to taking care of the other three when their mother worked, and this helped them survive in the jungle.

“When the plane crashed, they pulled a farinha from the wreckage and survived. After the farina ran out, they started eating seeds,” said the children’s uncle, Fidencio Valencia, adding that they later found the food from kits that rescuers dropped from the sky. According to him, his niece Leslie knows how to navigate by the rays of the sun that creep through the trees, to recognize passable paths, broken branches and edible mushrooms.

Surviving and finding them is like a movie script as they spent weeks in an area where snakes, mosquitoes and other animals abound. “It is always night in the jungle, as almost no light penetrates through the dense foliage. It is so dark that it is difficult to see more than 20 meters ahead. If someone deviates further than this distance, they can be lost forever,” experts note. According to a military source, Leslie was the one who carried the baby most of the time.

“They are children of the jungle, and now they are children of Colombia,” said Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

He called them an “example of survival” and predicted their saga “will go down in history”. And the hospital revealed that after their 40-day odyssey, the kids said they just wanted to play and read.