MAgdalena Mucutuy, a mother of four who was rescued Friday after disappearing for nearly 40 days in the Colombian Amazon, was still alive four days after the Cessna 206 plane they were traveling in crashed on May 1.
The children’s father, Manuel Miller, told reporters in Roanoke that the eldest daughter revealed that the mother did not die immediately after the accident.
“Leslie told me that mom has been alive for four days,” said the man next to the military hospital in Bogotá where the children are, as quoted by AFP.
“Before he died, their mother said to them: ‘Get out of here. Go find your father,'” he added.
The children, Leslie, 13, Solini, 9, Diane Noriel, 5, and Christine, 1, were found Friday afternoon.
On May 1, the children were traveling with their mother and another companion when the plane disappeared from radar near San José del Guerrier, in the south of the country.
The small plane was found on May 8, upright, with its front end against the ground, amid dense vegetation.
Rescuers recovered three bodies: the pilot, the children’s mother and the leader of the Uitoto tribal community.
Hopes that the children could be found alive were fueled by the discovery of personal items in the jungle, including partially eaten fruit and a bottle, as well as “an improvised shelter made of sticks and branches”.
With the help of the tribal community, more than 100 soldiers and dogs were involved in the search.
According to civil defense officials, the pilot reported engine trouble before the plane disappeared from radars. The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained.
Also read: “It’s an honor”. The Colombian general who is the godfather of the rescued child
Always know first.
Consumer Choice for Online Press for the seventh year in a row.
Download our free app.
“Hardcore explorer. Extreme communicator. Professional writer. General music practitioner. Prone to fits of apathy.”