Colombian President Gustavo Petro additionally awarded medal to army rescue canine, Wilson, who went lacking throughout the seek for the kids.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has awarded medals to Indigenous and army rescuers who took half in an operation to search out 4 kids who have been misplaced for 40 days within the jungle after surviving a airplane crash within the nation’s Amazon area.
The youngsters, aged one by means of to 13, survived the crash that killed their mom, the pilot and one other grownup on Might 1. The youngsters have been finally discovered on June 9 by volunteers from the Indigenous Muruy individuals following a big and sophisticated search operation.
“Greater than the medals, that are symbolic… the good prize, the good reward, known as life,” President Petro stated on the ceremony within the capital Bogota on Monday the place members of the rescue mission got medals of the Order of Boyaca – the second highest distinction within the armed forces and the best for civilians.
The youngsters – Lesly, Soleiny, Tien Norie and Cristin, aged 13, 9, 5 and one, respectively – survived for weeks within the deep jungle because of abilities they discovered being members of one in all Colombia’s Indigenous communities.
Petro stated the kids had been guided by “ancestral” data and praised the collaboration with Indigenous members of the search workforce for “instructing all of Colombia how, being united, we are able to discover life”.
“Now there isn’t a debate about whether or not Western or conventional knowledge is extra essential,” Petro stated of the rescue efforts. “Collectively, they introduced the kids again.”
“The army with its satellites, and the Indigenous individuals with their potions – together with ayahuasca – and invoking the spirits of the jungle, collectively, discovered life,” he added.
The youngsters have been reported to be recovering satisfactorily at a army hospital in Bogota.
A army rescue canine, Wilson, who went lacking himself throughout the operation, was additionally awarded one of many medals. Although efforts to search out Wilson continued after the kids have been discovered, his rescue is now unlikely, a army official advised native media.
Normal Pedro Sanchez, chief of the rescue operation, stated monuments could be constructed to recollect the legacy of the six-year-old Belgian Malinois shepherd.
Wilson has not been seen since Might 18, when he raced away from the search occasion following a scent. The army has stated searchers adopted Wilson’s paw-prints, which led them into the final space the place the kids have been finally discovered three weeks later by 4 of the Indigenous volunteers.
