Colombian government official ‘confident’ four children were found alive days after jungle crash

CNN

By Mia Alberti, Stefano Pozzebon and Jennifer Deaton, CNN

(CNN) — A Colombian government official said she was “very confident” four children have been found alive more than two weeks after their plane crashed in the Amazon jungle – but was awaiting further proof.

The director of Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF), Astrid Caceres, said her team received second-hand confirmation that search teams rescued and identified the children, who have been missing since the crash of a small airplane in southern Colombia on May 1.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro inititally tweeted that the group were found alive, but later noted that official confirmation had not yet been received. What would be an extraordinary survival story is yet to be fully confirmed, with government officials battling poor communications and yet to make direct contact with the children.

According to the ICBF, the children, aged between 11 months old and 13, were found after the Colombian Armed Forces followed a trail of small objects such as hair scrunchies, plastic wrappings and baby bottles that led them to the missing group.

When asked why the police and military were continuing search efforts despite reports that the children had been rescued, Caceres, the government official, said: “It’s hard to communicate in the jungle and yesterday it was raining, too.”

“The information I have is that they are fine, we also understand they had very hard days, but these are kids who moved around the area, and they seemed ok,” she added.

“We are still missing that very, very last link that confirms all our hopes. Until we have the photo of the kids we won’t be stopping. We are not underestimating the information we received but we want to confirm [directly] ourselves.”

The Colombian Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement earlier that they found a “shelter built in an improvised way with sticks and leaves.”

Rescuers have been searching for the remnant of the Cessna plane since it crashed on May 1 in the country’s southern region of Guaviare in the Amazonas province.

While the children were found alive, Aerocivil said they found another three bodies inside the small aircraft.

The Colombian Armed Forces launched a massive search operation, supported by dog units, local indigenous communities, planes and helicopters, which flew over the region broadcasting a message recorded by the childrens’ grandmother.

The charter company whose aircraft crashed told CNN they are still waiting to contact the children, reiterating they have not received proof of their arrival.

Giselle Lopez, co-owner of Avianline Charters SAS said the bodies of the three adults who were killed in the crash are yet to be recovered.

“We just pray (to) god that in a few hours we all have the news we are waiting for, and see these kids: you must understand, the storms there are really strong, sometimes we lose radio contact for over an hour due to the electrical storms, and with these rains the navigation over the river is difficult, there are debris and strong currents on that river,” Lopez added.

President Petro posted a new message on social media Thursday, noting that the information provided by Colombia’s Family Affairs Institute on Wednesday evening has yet to be confirmed.

On Wednesday evening, Petro tweeted that the Colombian Armed Forces had found the four children alive, but his post was deleted Thursday morning local time, prompting much speculation in local media.

No photos or videos have yet emerged showing the children “I have decided to delete this tweet because the information provided by the ICBF could not be confirmed,” Petro tweeted. “I’m sorry about what happened. The Military Forces and the indigenous communities will continue their tireless search to give the country the news it is waiting for. At this moment, there is no other priority other than moving forward with the search until you find them. Children’s lives are the most important thing.”

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CNN’s Claudia Rebaza contributed reporting.