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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Chiara Fiorillo

Hidden heroes who found four children lost in Amazon for 40 days after plane crash

The story of four children who were lost in the Amazon jungle for 40 days after a plane crash and managed to survive alone before being rescued this week has made headlines around the world.

The children, aged 11 months, 4, 9 and 13 years old, were found alive on Friday after days of constant searches through the rainforest, officials in Colombia announced.

The youngsters, who belong to the Huitoto indigenous group, received treatment at a hospital in the Colombian capital, Bogota, on Saturday.

While officials did not explain how the siblings endured their time alone in the remote area, it emerged that the oldest children had some knowledge of how to survive in the rainforest.

Rescuers have been praised for their work but they have also pointed out that the search was aided by a pair of dogs named Tellius and Wilson who became the hidden heroes of the long-month operation.

The children were found alive after spending more than a month lost in the Colombian Amazon jungle (Colombian Presidency/AFP via Get)

The dogs helped 150 soldiers reach the children after picking up their scent - and one may have walked with the kids for a bit before leading rescuers to them, said rescuer Carlos Villegas.

Astrid Cáceres, director of the Colombian Family Welfare Institute, confirmed that Lesly, the eldest sibling, mentioned that the youngsters had encountered a dog, but it was unclear whether it had been Wilson.

The girl added that the puppy "was lost" but "accompanied them for a while", according to Ms Cáceres.

A soldier standing next to the wreckage of the aircraft in the municipality of Solano, department of Caqueta, Colombia (Colombian army/AFP via Getty Ima)

But after the kids were found safe, rescuers said that Wilson, a six-year-old Belgian Malinois, who was key in finding the children, is now lost.

The dog has been missing since Thursday and rescuers believe the pup may have become disoriented during the search mission due to the complexity of the terrain, humidity and adverse weather condition.

The Colombian military said on its Twitter account: "The search is not over. Our principle: we leave no one behind.

"Soldiers continue operation to find Wilson."

The children survived alone in the Colombian Amazon rainforest (Colombian Presidency/AFP via Get)

The children and their mum were travelling across Colombia in a Cessna light aircraft when it went down on May 1.

An initial investigation revealed the plane experienced engine failure in mid-air before the impact killed their mum Magdalena Mucutui, the pilot and an indigenous leader.

After hearing that the children had been found alive and well, their grandmother Maria Fatima Valencia said: "I want to hug them. My heart sighs."

During the search mission, military rescuers had recorded the woman telling the children that they would be okay if they remained in one place until someone arrived to rescue them.

Soldiers saved the children with the help of two pups (Colombian Presidency/AFP via Get)

The recordings were played on loudspeakers in different parts of the rainforest during the search for the kids, according to reprots.

John Moreno, a leader of the Guanano group in Vaupes, in the southeastern part of Colombia where the children grew up, said that the kids were raised by their grandmother and used their "ancestral knowledge" to survive alone in the jungle.

While in the hospital on Saturday, the children also received a visit by Colombian president Gustavo Petro.

Colombia's Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez said: "Thanks to Lesly, her little brothers and sister could survive, thanks to her efforts and her understanding of the forest."

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