 They had been missing in the jungle since a Cessna 206 carrying seven people on a route between Araracuara, in Caqueta, and San Jose del Guaviare, a city in Guaviare province, issued a mayday alert due to engine failure in the early hours of May 1. Three adults, including the pilot and the children's mother, died in the crash and their bodies were found inside the plane. A massive rescue effort, named Operation Hope, was launched to save the children after it was discovered they had survived the crash and had been living in the jungle using skills taught to them by their mother. Following their rescue, Fidencio Valencia, one of the children's uncles, told media outlet Noticias Caracol that they hid in tree trunks to protect themselves in a jungle area filled with snakes, animals and mosquitoes. The missing children survived for 40 days in the Amazon after their plane crashed in the jungle (Picture: AFP) The four siblings have remained in the custody of Colombia's child protection agency since leaving hospital after recovering from malnutrition and other){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
The father of two of the four Indigenous children who survived a plane crash that killed their mother and two other adults, then survived 40 days on their own in the Amazon jungle, has been arrested, Colombian authorities said.
Manuel Ranoque, the father of the one and four-year-old boys in the crash and the stepfather of the two girls, aged nine and 13 was detained by officials, the Colombian prosecutor’s office confirmed.
Although no details were given on the reason for his arrest, local media reports said the case involved allegations of domestic abuse.
The children’s miraculous survival captured imaginations around the world after they beat the odds to survive for over a month in the inhospitable jungle.