How rescuers used scent hound, 150 crew and granny to find kids lost in Amazon
Soldiers scoured the canopy of the Amazon rainforest from helicopters as scent dogs raced between the trees in an enormous search operation to find four kids missing in the jungle for 40 days.
The four siblings, members of the Uitoto indigenous community and aged between one and 13, were travelling across Colombia in a Cessna light aircraft when it went down on May 1.
An initial investigation revealed the plane experienced engine failure in mid-air before the impact killed their mum Magdalena Mucutui, the pilot and an indigenous leader.
In a Colombian Armed Forces video, a series of clips show the massive 150-man search operation involved in tracking down the youngsters.
Soldiers dashed hundreds of flyers out of the helicopter and blared out a message from their grandma in their native tongue, them to stop walking deeper into the jungle (Facebook/The North Today)In one of the segments, a scent hound is seen prowling through puddles as it tries to pick up any trace of the children. The video is accompanied by several images of the hero hound.
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A number of the videos were recorded from the army choppers as they searched from above.
It has been reported that the helicopters were blaring out a message from the kids' grandma in their native Huitoto language, telling them to stay put and stop moving deeper into the jungle.
Soldiers wrap the children in survival blankets and check their vitals (Facebook/The North Today)Another scene shows a soldiers dashing hundreds of pink flyers from the helicopter door, containing directions for the children to follow.
The soldiers found the youngsters at night, with scenes showing medics performing a physical check on them by torchlight, the video shared by Norte Hoy shows.
On discovery, it was found that the children were suffering from acute malnutrition, dehydration, and covered from head to toe in insect bites, but that was the extent of their injuries.
Soldiers pose with the youngsters after finding them malnourised and dehydrated in the depths of the jungle (AP)After the incredible discovery, their granddad issued a thank you message to the Colombian Army.
But he added "I need a flight or a helicopter to go and get them urgently".
Their grandmother also told Noticias Caracol: "I never lost hope, I was always supporting the search. I feel very happy, I thank President Petro and my 'countrymen' who went through so many difficulties."
The kids' trauma began on the morning of 1 May when their Cessna 206 airplane left an area of the jungle known as Araracuara, bound for the town of San Jose del Guaviare in the Colombian Amazon.
Wreckage of the flight was found two weeks after it took off (Colombian army/AFP via Getty Ima)The case was thought to have been solved prematurely back in May when President Gustavo Petro falsely claimed the children had been rescued.
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Soldiers had found the bodies of the three missing adults, including the kids' mum, among the debris - but the children were nowhere to be found.
President Petro said after the rescue was confirmed that the kids were an "example of survival", adding their story will "remain in history".
Rescuers initially found the children's belongings including a baby bottle near a makeshift shelter (Colombian army/AFP via Getty Ima)"'A joy for the whole country!" he added on Twitter. "The 4 children who were lost 40 days ago in the Colombian jungle appeared alive."
Rescuers later came across some of the children's belongings including a baby's drinking bottle, shoes and scissors near a makeshift shelter.
The on Friday (June 9), the country's military shared pictures on Twitter showing a group of soldiers and volunteers posing with the kids, who had been wrapped in thermal blankets.
The images were captioned: "The union of our efforts made this possible".
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