Colombian children found alive - 21st June 2023

Four young children are now safe after nearly six weeks. In early May, the children were travelling on a small plane in Colombia. The plane crashed and the pilot and another adult died. After four days, the children's mother also died.

The four children, aged 13,9,5 and 1, set off to find help. They managed to stay alive for 40 days in the Amazon jungle. Lesly, the oldest child, kept them safe.

The children come from the Huitoto community. Lesly was taught to understand the rainforest by her grandmother. She knew what to do. Lesly made sure they stayed near the river. She also knew the plants and seeds which they could eat.

One of the Huitoto men who found them was Henry Guerrero.

Henry Guerrero: "The one who directed everything in the 40 days was the eldest. She was very intelligent, because when we checked the briefcase, we checked what she was carrying. She took the tent, towel, camping equipment, she took a torch with a couple of batteries, but it was already dead, the two mobile phones, with what they were sometimes distracted at night, a music box and the bottles of soda."

The Huitoto people and the Colombian army organised searches. Dogs were also used. The children said that one dog stayed with them for four days, at the end.

The children were thin but not sick when they were found, said Guerrero.

Henry Guerrero: "When we found them, it was really a great happiness. They were a little bit malnourished. But what we admired about the four minors, apart from the baby who does not speak, was that she had not lost consciousness. They remembered everything."

All four children were taken to Bogota and are now in hospital. After health checks by doctors, they'll join their father.