• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Colombia

Petro Retracts Claim To Have Found the Missing Children

  • The four children, aged 13, 9 and 4, as well as an 11-month-old baby, survived the impact. May. 17, 2023.

    The four children, aged 13, 9 and 4, as well as an 11-month-old baby, survived the impact. May. 17, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/@MailOnline

Published 18 May 2023
Opinion

Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Thursday retracted his claim that four missing indigenous children had been found alive.

On Twitter, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he had deleted his Wednesday night tweet, in which he had announced the rescue of the four indigenous children missing for more than two weeks after a small plane crashed in the Amazon.

Related:

4 Missing Children Found Alive After Plane Crash In Colombia

"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," he added.

The plane, a Cessna 206, issued a distress alert due to engine failure in the early hours of May 1, when it was carrying seven people and covering the route between Araracuara, in Amazonas province, and San José del Guaviare.

"After an arduous search by our military, we have found alive the four children who were missing after a plane crash in Guaviare. A joy for the country," the head of state had said in a message via Twitter on Wednesday.

The Tweet reads, "I have decided to delete the tweet because the information provided 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.

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."

After the crash, three adults were killed, including the pilot, their bodies were found inside the plane. The four children, aged 13, 9 and 4, as well as an 11-month-old baby, survived the impact.

Rescuers, supported by search dogs, had previously found discarded fruit that the children ate to survive, as well as makeshift shelters made from jungle vegetation.

Planes and helicopters from the Colombian army and air force were involved in the rescue operations.

People

Gustavo Petro
Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.