Malnourished and riddled with insect bites, four indigenous children were rescued alive from the Colombian Amazon on Friday afternoon, 40 days after the plane they were traveling in crashed in the jungle.
The children survived severe storms in one of the most dangerous parts of the country, home to predatory animals and armed groups.
"They have given us an example of survival that will go down in history," said Colombian President Gustavo Petro, calling the occasion a "joy for the whole country!"
The four siblings, aged 13, 9, 4 and an 11-month-old baby, were from the indigenous Huitoto community. Although malnourished, none of the children were in serious condition, including the youngest, who spent his first birthday in the jungle.
They are believed to have survived by eating boxes of food thrown into the jungle by the search team, but the education they received from their grandmother may also have been vital, said John Moreno, an indigenous leader.
"This is a virgin, dense and dangerous forest and they will have used the knowledge they got in the community, the knowledge of the ancestors, to survive," he told local media Cambio.
The plane they were traveling in crashed on May 1 due to weather. Two weeks later the plane was found in the jungle, along with the bodies of three adults, including that of the children's 33-year-old mother. But no sign of them was discovered.
In the days that followed, a glimmer of hope appeared. About 500 meters from the crash site, search teams found footprints, chewed fruit and used diapers.
The children were taken to the hospital to be checked for physical and psychological injuries, but are in good condition.
