The tragic plane crash of Cessna 206 aircraft led to the mother, Magdalena Mucutuy, and the pilot, Hernando Murcia Morales, being dead, leaving the four kids to fend for themselves. An engine failure caused the light aircraft to crash into the Amazon rainforest. The craft was carrying them to San José del Guaviare from southern Colombia.
This miraculous survival of the four kids is full of resilience as the eldest one, Lesly, was just 14, and the youngest one was 11 months old. The other two siblings, Soleiny (9) and Tein (4) followed the eldest to look for help.
The rescue operation started two weeks after the crash, so the possibility of anyone surviving was small. When the rescuers reached the crash sight, they could not even make out the number of bodies inside the wreckage. Since two weeks had already passed, it was hard to identify anything clearly.
They did not even have clarity about the survivors but soon, they started noticing things such as baby bottles, rummaged luggage, and fruits with human bites. So, it was clear that the kids had survived.
The eldest kid, Lesly, had ensured they had supplies from the plane before they headed out to the jungle for help. By the time rescue reached the site, the kids were already far gone and in search of help. So now their task was to look for the children in the thick Amazon forest. The initial clues were enough to show they were alive, but the time that passed left them confused about the current situation. It is hard terrain to survive, even for trained people, so the survival of kids is truly something surprising.
The rescue operation was headed by the Colombian military and some local indigenous volunteers. Even the indigenous folks came together with the military after decades of conflict. This search operation had its challenges as the forest is dense and not easy to navigate. So the help from the locals was a huge part in searching for the kids.
Mother of children found alive in Colombia rainforest survived for four days after plane crash before telling them to ‘save yourselves’
Manual Ranoque told Mail Online that his eldest surviving daughter Lesly, 13, told him his wife Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia battled to… pic.twitter.com/70LjqQpjXR
— Adebayo MOG (@adebayo__mog) June 12, 2023
The challenges for kids’ survival were dehydration, diseases, wildlife attacks, and starvation. For their rescue the team used helicopters that were playing their grandmother’s audio. They also used a dog to trace the kids’ scent. The team employed flares and lights to be more visible to the kids. After several weeks of unsuccessful efforts, the indigenous volunteers found used nappies, track marks, and baby feeding bottles.
It was a sign that kids were safe and alive. Since it was a long rescue operation, it was almost called off just before the discovery, but these cues helped. Fortunately, a local volunteer heard a child’s cry and followed the sounds. To their surprise, all four kids were alive. They were scared and had lost a lot of weight but were okay.
♥️#BREAKING Mom of the 4 children miraculously rescued from a Colombian jungle survived for 4 days B4 dying after 🛩️crash
💔Manuel Ranoque said his eldest daughter Lesly, 13, told him his wife Magdalena Mucutuy battled to stay alive but in the end told them to save themselves…/2 pic.twitter.com/CaF6FpfJFT— Pixie ✨🧚🏻♀️☀️ (@PixiePi13720126) June 12, 2023
According to Lesly, their mother was alive and had asked them to get help and survive. She led her siblings in search of food and water so they could survive. She was dragging herself amidst the pain from the crash. The kids survived on fruits and fish that they caught using rods they could make with scarce resources.
Their recollection of events of survival is horrific as they did not sleep at all and could not even stand up due to malnutrition. They could hear the helicopters with the voice but lost it as the jungle was huge. The kids were treated in the hospital and in the care of Colombia’s Institute for Family Welfare. Both the army and indigenous people were acknowledged for their efforts and received a hero welcome after rescuing the kids.
