Colombia honours searchers and sniffer dog that rescued children who survived plane crash

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia's president handed out 86 medals Monday to soldiers, Indigenous volunteers and government officials who helped in the rescue of four children who spent 40 days on their own in the jungle after a plane crash.

President Gustvao Petro described the search that captivated world attention as an example of how Western technologies and traditional knowledge of Indigenous people can work together in the “preservation of life.”

The children, Indigenous siblings, were on a small plane with their mother and two other adults when it crashed in the Amazon on May 1.

The three adults died.

Some 70 Indigenous people worked with more than 150 soldiers to look for the children in difficult terrain, using helicopters and GPS devices but also drawing inspiration from traditional knowledge of the jungle.

The children, aged 1 to 13, were found June 9 by four volunteers from the Muruy people.

The children are still recovering at a military hospital in Bogota.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.