MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Children survive aircraft crash after 17 days in Colombia

All three adults on the aircraft were found dead

Four children who had been missing for 17 days since the single-engined Cessna 206 aircraft they were riding plunged into the ground were found alive Tuesday by Colombian authorities, it was reported Wednesday in Bogota. The survivors are 13, 9, and 4 years old, and 11 months. The three adults also aboard the aircraft perished in the accident.

“After arduous search efforts by our Military Forces, we have found alive the 4 children who had disappeared due to the plane crash in Guaviare. A joy for the country,” Petro said on Twitter.

The chartered Cessna 206 disappeared from radars last May 1 due to an alleged engine failure while flying between Araracuara, on the border between the departments of Caquetá and Amazonas, and San José del Guaviare.

On Tuesday, authorities found the aircraft in a rural area of the Palma Rosa hamlet, which is part of the municipality of Solano, and the lifeless bodies of the three adults on board, but found no trace of the other four passengers.

The search for the children, who disappeared in a rainy area, involved more than 100 members of the Armed Forces together with 3 canines trained in search and tracking, as well as indigenous people from the region, all supported by helicopters.