Child Crash Survivors Rescued After 40 Days In Jungle

Four kids ranging in age from 11 months to 13 were plucked from the Colombian jungle on Friday, 40 days after surviving the crash of a Cessna 206. Three adults died in the May 1 crash, which happened after the pilot reported an engine failure. The plane was on a charter flight from Araracuara Airport to San Jose del Guaviare-Jorge E. González T. Airport when it went down in the Amazon rainforest.

It took two weeks to find the wreckage and crews found signs that the kids had survived but couldn't immediately find them. That sparked a massive search on the ground and in the air with soldiers blaring out loudspeaker recordings of their grandmother urging the kids to stay in one place. They also dropped food and supplies throughout the relatively small (five-mile diameter) search area but didn't locate them until Friday when search dogs found them. They came through the ordeal in generally good shape and were taken to a hospital as a precaution. The kids are members of the local indigenous tribe and authorities said the older ones had survival skills they used to keep the group safe.