Colombian authorities believe that theFour children who were lost in the jungle a month ago, after the plane they were traveling in crashed, are alive, and continue the search.
An operation made up of 119 soldiers and 72 indigenous people, helped by tracking dogs,They found fresh footprints, a makeshift shelter and a bitten fruit.
"We conclude that the children are alive based on the evidence. If they were dead, it would surely be easy to find them because they would be still, because the animals would guide us there," said General Pedro Sánchez, quoted by the news agency.AFP.
The officer, Joint Commander of Special Operations of the Military Forces, stated that his men have been barely 100 meters away from finding the children.
"We believe that we have passed about 200 or 300 meters from them. We have found evidence and we have corroborated with the GPS, as when we found the two diapers, one used, that we passed about 100 meters from them. But there, at 20 meters, you can't see anything anymore," he stressed.
The four brothers were traveling in asmall plane that crashed on May 1 in the Amazon jungle. The next day, the plane was found with the bodies of the pilot, the co-pilot and the children's mother.
During these days of searching, the Army has released more than 10,000 leaflets and 100 survival kits, but despite this the four minors, one 11 months old and the other three, four, nine and 13 years old, continue walking.
At this time, tracking work is being carried out along the banks of the Apaporis River, in an area of about 323 kilometers. So far, the military has traveled 1,250 kilometers, which is like going from Bogotá to Quito (Ecuador).
"We believe we are very close. There is a channel, El Arará, that flows into the Ariari River, to the north; and to the southwest other tributaries that flow into the San Jorge River. The highest probability is that they went towards the San Jorge River. Jorge: there are no communities there, it is a totally virgin area. We believe that they changed course towards the north and east and the indications tell us that they would go towards the Apaporis River," detailed the commander, quoted byInfobae.
The general pointed out that there are no indications that the brothers have fallen into the hands of any illegal armed group, nor that they are being transported by an adult.
"The probability is very low, we have only found footprints of minors size 35, without shoes and we believe it is the footprint of the 13-year-old girl who is barefoot," he said.
Last week, military forces and the Nukak indigenous people found abottle cap, the four-year-old's shoes, a cell phone and a used diaper.
The four lost children live in Araracuara and belong to the Huitoto community. They are named Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy (13 years old), Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy (9), Tien Noriel Ranoque Mucutuy (4) and Cristin Neriman Ranoque Mucutuy (11 months).
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