Horrors of Colombian plane crash: Dying mother asked children to run for life

Brasilia, Brazil

The mother of the four children, who managed to survive in the dense Amazon forest for six weeks, was alive for four days after their plane crashed. However, fearing for her children's safety, she told them to leave her and move ahead to increase their chances of being rescued.

The heart-wrenching details of the woman's last days came forth as more information emerged about the astonishing feat of endurance of the rescued children.

On Sunday, the father of two rescued kids Manuel Ranoque, while speaking to reporters, said that his wife Magdalena Mucutuy had survived the plane crash, however, she succumbed to her injuries four days later.

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“My daughter has told me that their mother was alive for four days,” Ranoque said.

“Before she died, she said to them: ‘Maybe you should go. You guys are going to see the kind of man your dad is, and he’s going to show you the same kind of great love that I have shown you,” he added.

Survivors of Amazon forest

The kids, aged 13, nine, four and 11 months, were travelling from the Amazonian village of Araracuara to San Jose del Guaviare with their mother when their Cessna plane crashed after engine failure was reported by the pilot on May 1.

The children, who are members of the Huitoto Indigenous community, were found by military sniffer dogs after they spent more than a month in a jungle where snakes, mosquitoes and other animals abound.

The children’s great-uncle Fidencio Valencia said that kids had survived by eating farina or cassava flour and by using the knowledge they have of the rainforest’s fruits.

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“When the plane crashed, they took farina (from the wreckage), and with that they survived,” he said while speaking to reporters outside the hospital, where the children are likely to remain for a minimum of two weeks.

“After the farina ran out, they began to eat seeds,” added Valencia. The kids appeared to have survived because of their eldest sibling, Lesly who ensured that they are safe and nourished by using the information of the rainforest which her mother had given to her.

The timing of the plane crash was also in favour of the children. Head of the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare Astrid Caceres said that the youngsters were able to eat fruit because “the jungle was in harvest”.

“They will tell their stories and you will hear them,” stated Ranoque, after visiting the children at the military hospital of Bogota.