According to Colombia's president, four children have been found alive more than a month after their plane went down in the Amazon jungle of that nation.
When the plane crashed on May 1, the siblings, who ranged in age from one to thirteen, were also present, along with their mother, a pilot, and a co-pilot.
On the plane, the other adults, including their mother, perished.
Finding the kids after several weeks of looking was "a joy for the whole country," according to President Gustavo Petro.
He described it as a "magical day," adding that even though they were by themselves, they managed to set a record-breaking example of total survival.
"These children are Colombian children today and children of peace. ".
Mr. Petro posted a picture of several military personnel and Indigenous people caring for the siblings, who had been missing for 40 days.
After speaking to their grandfather, who informed him that "the mother jungle returned them," he claimed that the kids were now receiving medical care.
The Cessna 206 aircraft the children and their mother had been travelling on was flying from Araracuara, in Amazonas province, to San José del Guaviare, when it issued a mayday alert due to engine failure.
The bodies of the three adults who had been with them were found at the crash site by the army.
The children may have escaped the wreckage and wandered into the rainforest in search of assistance, according to preliminary information from the civil aviation authority, according to Reuters.
The children's grandfather Fidencio Valencia told AFP he needed a "flight or a helicopter to go and get them urgently".
In May, rescuers recovered items left behind by the children, including a child's drinking bottle, a pair of scissors, a hair tie and a makeshift shelter.
Small footprints had also been discovered, which led search teams to believe they had survived the collision.
The children belong to the Huitoto indigenous group and members of their community hoped that their knowledge of fruits and jungle survival skills would give them a better chance of surviving.
Indigenous people joined the search operation and helicopters broadcasted a message from the children's grandmother, recorded in the Huitoto language, urging them to stop moving to make them easier to locate.
Colombia's president came under criticism last month when a tweet published on his account announced that the children had been found.
He erased the tweet the next day saying that the information - which his office had been given by Colombia's child welfare agency - could not be confirmed.
