![]() In the end, says Lieutenant Colonel Garzon, it was a Belgian Shepherd rescue dog named Wilson who first came across the kids. They figured the resulting visions might point them in the right direction. You must remain calm and stay put." For further inspiration, the Indigenous volunteers took ayahuasca, a psychedelic brew made of jungle plants. OTIS: She says, "Lesly, this is your grandmother. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Huitoto). To calm them down, the kids' grandmother recorded a message for Lesly, the 13-year-old, in the Huitoto language that was broadcast into the jungle. What they didn't spot were the kids, who were apparently spooked by the soldiers and spent much of their time hiding from them. OTIS: He says "they saw deer, tapirs, oncillas - which are like small tigers - and lots of snakes. But even they found it tough going, says Alberto Acosta, a volunteer who spent 19 days in the jungle.ĪLBERTO ACOSTA: (Non-English language spoken). ![]() Meanwhile, Indigenous volunteers - who knew the jungle better than the soldiers - joined the search. ![]() The kids had a mosquito net and a plastic tarp on top of which they piled banana leaves to bunk down at night. OTIS: Because they lacked a baby bottle, de Vengoechea says that Lesly Mucutuy, the 13-year-old girl who was the group's leader, used a leaf to drip the yucca mixture into the baby's mouth. VENGOECHEA: (Non-English language spoken). The baby was kept alive with water mixed with yucca flower, a bag of which they found on the airplane. They also found a box of food airdropped by the army. OTIS: After leaving the crash site, she said, the kids ate juan soco, a fruit similar to passion fruit, and seeds known as milpeso, which are packed with oil and vitamins. They run in the trees, taking the different fruits. She's an anthropologist who studied and lived with the children's family.ĬONSUELO DE VENGOECHEA: They are always climbing in the trees, running in the trees. They were well prepared to forage because they were raised in the jungle, says Consuelo de Vengoechea. ![]() OTIS: He said the children abandoned the crash site to get away from the dead bodies and to look for food and water. We are not going to leave that place unless we find them. OTIS: That's Army Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Garzon, who advised the search-and-rescue team. OSCAR GARZON: We are not losing hope because we know they are alive. The one positive sign was that the children were missing. There, they found the dead bodies of all three adults aboard the plane, including the kids' mother, Magdalena Mucutuy. Due to bad weather, it took the army two weeks to locate the crash site. However, the Cessna developed engine trouble and disappeared on May 1. He had fled their village after being threatened by a guerrilla group that he feared would try to recruit his children. They were traveling with their mother aboard a single-engine Cessna to visit their father. The children - ages 13, 9 and 4, plus an 11-month-old baby - are members of the Huitoto Indigenous group. Once on board, doctors treated them for dehydration and malnutrition. Instead, as the chopper hovered overhead, troops rappelled down to the jungle floor, then hoisted the children back up to the aircraft. JOHN OTIS, BYLINE: The children were stranded in a patch of rainforest in southern Colombia that was so thick there was no place for the rescue helicopter to land. The children, including a baby, first survived a deadly plane crash, then managed to stay alive in the rainforest until they could be rescued by the Colombian army. Four Indigenous children are recovering in Colombia after spending 40 days lost in the Amazon jungle.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |