Update May 18 at 10:42 GMT
In an unfortunate turn of events, Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, posted moments ago on his Twitter account that unfortunately the four minors who were on board the Cessna C206 registration HK-2803 that crashed in the south of the country on May 1 have not yet been located.
«I have decided to delete the tweet due to the fact that the information delivered by the ICBF could not be confirmed. I regret what happened. The Military Forces and the indigenous communities will continue their tireless search to give the country the news it is waiting for,» Petro said.
«At this moment there is no other priority than to move forward with the search until they are found. The children’s lives are the most important thing,» he concluded.
It was Gustavo Petro himself who on Wednesday afternoon had announced that the four children were found alive. Considering that he is the president of the Republic of Colombia and therefore should handle certain information before disclosing it, the whole public opinion applauded the news.
But, unfortunately, now all of Colombia is once again waiting for the miracle to materialize and for them to be found safe and sound.
He decidido borrar el trino debido a que la información entregada por el ICBF no ha podido ser confirmada. Lamento lo sucedido. Las Fuerzas Militares y las comunidades indígenas continuarán en su búsqueda incansable para darle al país la noticia que está esperando.
En este…
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) May 18, 2023
After 17 days of strenuous search efforts, the four children who were aboard the Cessna C206 that went missing on May 1st in the middle of the Colombian Amazon jungle were found alive.
According to the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, the minors aged between 1 and 13 years old had been reported missing as they were not found within the accident area of the Cessna, which was just located yesterday.
But hope that the minors would be found alive was rekindled when they found passenger remains a kilometer from the crashed plane. They also identified small shelters in the surrounding areas.
The Cessna accident
The Cessna 206, registered as HK-2803 from the company Avianline Charters, with seven people on board, disappeared in Colombia on the morning of May 1st after declaring an emergency.
The aircraft was flying between Araracuara and San José del Guaviaré, the capital of the Guaviare department, in southern Colombia.
The Search and Rescue Services (SAR) of Aerocivil received the location of the aircraft approximately 175 kilometers south of San José del Guaviare, over the Apaporis River.
After more than two weeks of intense search, Lesly Mucutuy, 13 years old; Soleiny Mucutuy, 9; Tien Noriel Ronoque Mucutuy, 4, and Cristin Neriman Ranoque Mucutuy, 11 months old, were found alive.
The fate of the three adult occupants was not the same, as their bodies were found lifeless inside the Cessna.
Tras hallar pistas de supervivencia de los 4 menores de edad, después de encontrar la aeronave desaparecida, la @AerocivilCol, @FuerzasMilCol, @DefensaCivilCo y @cruzrojacol coordinan misiones de búsqueda y rescate para dar con la ubicación de los niños
▶️https://t.co/pkQNWbWuCS pic.twitter.com/gidg9XfifB
— Fuerza Aérea Colombiana (@FuerzaAereaCol) May 17, 2023
Special Forces units from the General Command of the Military Forces, SAR personnel from Civil Aeronautics, aircraft from the Colombian Air Force and the National Army, as well as members of the Colombian Civil Defense, the Colombian Red Cross, the National Firefighters Corps and indigenous communities participated in the search and rescue operation.
According to Aerocivil, the Air Force used UH60, AC47 and Huey II aircraft configured with speakers capable of covering an area of about 1,500 meters, which transmitted messages in Huitoto, the children’s native language, recorded by their grandmother.
Avianline was founded in 2012 and manages different business units covering everything from travel agency to air taxi services and medical evacuations, as well as aircraft repair. They also detail that they own a Cessna 172, a Cessna 182, two Cessna 206s, and two Piper PA-31s.
Developing story
