Fresh hope for children missing in the Amazon after footprint is found
A new footprint believed to belong to a child has been found (Picture: epa/Reuters/AFP)
Rescuers looking for four children lost in the Amazon rainforest after a plane crash say new evidence suggests they could still be alive.
A light aircraft crashed in the Colombian jungle on May 1 and its pilot, an Indigenous leader and the childrens mother, Magdalena Mucutui Valencia, were all killed.
A search for 13-year-old Lesly, nine-year-old Soleiny, and Tien Noriel, aged four, is still ongoing a month later and a newly discovered footprint suggests they may still be alive.
There was no sign of the children when the wreckage was searched, sparking a huge search operation by the Colombian military, MailOnline reports.
More than 100 people are involved in the rescue mission, and its leaders claim its highly probable the children are alive due to the clues theyve been finding.
The latest hint is a footprint found on the muddy ground, which officials believe may belong to 13-year-old Lesly, the eldest of the missing children.
General Pedro Sanchez, leader of the rescue team, told W Radio on Monday: Based on the evidence, we concluded that the children are alive.
If they were dead, it would be easy to find them because they would be still and the sniffer dogs would find them.
Half-eaten fruit has been found (Picture: EPA)
Up to 100 members of the Colombian army have been searching (Picture: Colombian Army/AFP via Getty Images)
The larger footprint belongs to a soldier while the smaller one is believed to belong to one of the missing children (Picture: EPA)
Satellite images have revealed a path the youngsters took from the crash site, and the search has uncovered some of their belongings, a makeshift shelter, half eaten fruit, a pair of shoes and even a nappy.
Leaders from the Huitoto Indigenous group hope the childrens knowledge of fruits and jungle survival skills should give them better odds at being found alive.
The air force has dumped 10,000 flyers into the forest with instructions, written in both Spanish and the childrens Indigenous language, telling them to stay put.
The leaflets include survival tips, and the military has also dropped food parcels and bottled water in the jungle.
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Wednesday, May 31, 2023 at 9:44 am