For customer support contact
support@rawstory.com. Report typos and corrections to
corrections@rawstory.com.
Stories Chosen For You
Four Indigenous children who had been missing for more than a month in the Colombian Amazon rainforest were found alive and flown to the capital Bogota early Saturday.
The children, who survived a small plane crash in the jungle, were transported by army medical plane to a military airport at around 00:30 am Saturday (0530 GMT).
They were taken off the plane on stretchers, wrapped in thermal blankets, with ambulances waiting to bring them to hospital, AFP journalists said.
General Pedro Sanchez, who led the search operation, credited Indigenous people involved in the rescue effort with finding the children.
"We found the children: miracle, miracle, miracle!" was the message he told reporters he received on Friday.
President Gustavo Petro announced their rescue and told the media: "Today we have had a magical day."
"They are weak. Let's let the doctors make their assessment," he said.
Petro had posted a photo on Twitter showing several adults, some dressed in military fatigues, tending to the children as they sat on tarps in the jungle. One rescuer held a bottle to the mouth of the smallest child, whom he held in his arms.
"A joy for the whole country! The 4 children who were lost 40 days ago in the Colombian jungle were found alive," he wrote on Twitter.
Video shared by the Defense Ministry late Friday showed the children being pulled up into a helicopter as it hovered over the tall trees in almost complete darkness.
Originally from the Huitoto Indigenous group, the children -- aged 13, nine, four and one -- had been wandering alone in the jungle since May 1, when the Cessna 206 in which they were traveling crashed.
The pilot had reported engine problems only minutes after taking off from a jungle area known as Araracuara on the 350-kilometer (217-mile) journey to the town of San Jose del Guaviare.
The bodies of the pilot, the children's mother and a local Indigenous leader were all found at the crash site, where the plane sat almost vertical in the trees.
Officials said the group had been fleeing threats from members of an armed group.
A massive search involving 160 soldiers and 70 Indigenous people with intimate knowledge of the jungle was launched after the crash, garnering global attention.
The area is home to jaguars, snakes and other predators, as well as armed drug smuggling groups, but clues such as footprints, a diaper, and half-eaten fruit led authorities to believe they were on the right track.
Worried that the children would continue wandering and become ever more difficult to locate, the air force dumped 10,000 flyers into the forest with instructions in Spanish and the children's own Indigenous language, telling them to stay put.
The leaflets also included survival tips, and the military dropped food parcels and bottled water.
Rescuers had also been broadcasting a message recorded by the children's grandmother, urging them not to move.
According to the military, rescuers found the children about five kilometers (three miles) west of the crash site.
'Absolute survival'
Huitoto children learn hunting, fishing and gathering, and the kids' grandfather, Fidencio Valencia, had told AFP the children are well acquainted with the jungle.
"I just want to see them, to touch them," he said early Saturday after learning of their rescue.
News came as Petro returned home from Cuba, where he signed a six-month truce with Colombia's last active guerrilla group, the ELN.
"Getting closer and attaining peace in the agreement that is moving forward with the ELN... And now I return and the first news is that indeed the Indigenous communities that were in the search and the military forces found the children 40 days later," he told reporters in Bogota.
"They were alone, they made it on their own. An example of absolute survival that will go down in history," he said.
With her "warrior" spirit, 13-year-old Lesly kept her younger siblings safe, the children's grandmother Fatima Valencia told AFP.
Seventeen days after the children went missing, Petro announced that they had been found alive but he retracted the statement a day later, saying he had been given false information.
On Friday, he praised "the effective coordination between the military and the Indigenous people" during the search, saying it was an "example of an alliance for the country to follow."
Fidencio Valencia told AFP that the children had been found by a native of Araracuara who had been participating in the search.
Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez paid tribute to the various army units' "unshakeable and tireless" work, as well as to the Indigenous people who took part in the search.
Army rescuers "immediately took charge of and stabilized" the four siblings, who were transferred to San Jose del Guaviare, according to the minister, and then later to Bogota.
(AFP)
CONTINUE READINGShow less
'Stuck with whatever he can get': Trump has a lawyer 'problem' as he faces off with Jack Smith
June 10, 2023
Appearing on CNN early Saturday morning, the State Attorney for Palm Beach County claimed the lawyer turmoil Donald Trump is experiencing as he heads to Florida where he will be formally charged on dozens of charges from the Department of Justice puts him at a disadvantage.
Speaking with host Amara Walker, prosecutor Dave Aronberg pointed out that the former president has put himself in the position of not having legal representation experienced in dealing with national security issues that are at the heart of the case against him.
Noting that Trump lawyers Jim Trusty and John Rowley walked away less than 24 hours after the indictments were announced, Aronberg said that is a "problem" for the now twice-indicted former president.
With Walker prompting, "There's a high turnover rate of his legal team," Aronberg quickly responded, "The strategy is just to find a lawyer who will take the case in Florida with knowledge in this area."
"The problem is, as respected as his new lawyer is, apparently he's not an expert in the field of national security," he continued. "We lawyers are specialists and you want someone who is used to this stuff, dealing with classified information because they're going against Jay Bratt who's the head of the Department of Justice's Counterintelligence division and you are going against Jack Smith who is a bulldog."
"You want to bring your A-game, and you don't want to bring someone new to this area," he continued. "But this is what happens with Donald Trump. You know lawyers are reluctant to work for him because look at Chris Kise, well-respected former solicitor general, brought on to help Trump, given a $3 million retainer. Trump didn't like his advice. Kise wanted Trump to be cooperative with the DOJ-- Trump rejected it, he sidelined him. He's stuck with whatever he can get."
Watch below or at the link:
CNN 06 10 2023 07 05 29youtu.be
Two giant yellow ducks meant to signify good fortune in Hong Kong ran into bad luck of their own after one was deflated Saturday to protect it from the heat.
The art installation by Dutch artist Forentijn Hofman, featuring twin 18-metre (59-feet) inflatable ducks, was unveiled to the public on Friday.
The exhibition came a decade after one of Hofman's air-filled avians first visited the Chinese city, with the artist saying the new work would bring "double luck".
But organisers had to let the air out of one bird due to high summer temperatures, which on Saturday reached highs of 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
The "rubber duck skin had become strained because the hot weather has caused air pressure to rise", the organizzers said in a statement.
The affected creature was drained of air to "avoid risk" and was pending repair, organizers said, leaving just one sitting duck in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour.
Hofman's Rubber Duck series has made appearances in major cities since its 2007 debut, and made headlines in Hong Kong when it arrived in 2013.
That exhibit lasted 13 days before it, too, was deflated.
© 2023 AFP
CONTINUE READINGShow less
Â
Â
Â
Copyright © 2023 Raw Story Media, Inc. PO Box 21050, Washington, D.C. 20009 | Masthead | Privacy Policy | Manage Preferences
For corrections contact corrections@rawstory.com, for support contact support@rawstory.com.
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}