Elite commandos join search for Colombian kids missing after plane crash
Bogota, May 19 (EFE).- The Colombian military said Friday that 50 Special Forces troops were dispatched to the southern province of Guaviare to aid in the search for four children who remain unaccounted for after a plane crash that resulted in the deaths of the three adults aboard the Cessna 206.
“These Commandos will be inserted today to support the search,’ the armed forces said in a statement.
On May 1, a propeller-driven aircraft operated by Avianline Charters disappeared from radar screens while traveling from Araracuara, a remote spot on the border between the provinces of Caqueta and Amazonas, to San Jose del Guaviare.
Four days ago, the wreckage of the plane was found in a dense patch of Amazonian rainforest near Solano, Caqueta, along with the bodies of three of the seven people aboard the flight.
But there was no trace of the four children: Lesly Mucutuy, 13; Soleiny Mucutuy, 9; Tien Noriel Ronoque Mucutuy, 4; and Cristin Neriman Ranoque Mucutuy, 11 months old.
More than 100 troops, accompanied by tracker dogs and supported from the air by helicopters, have been looking for the youngsters with assistance from the indigenous people who live in the region.
The military said that the helicopters are equipped with loudspeakers used to broadcast messages intended to let the children know “that the search has not stopped.”
“Operation Hope is a humanitarian effort of the Military Forces and the institutions,” the army statement said.
Earlier this week, searchers came upon a baby bottle and a makeshift shelter that they suspected had been used by the missing children.
Search teams have also spotted footprints that may have been left by the children. EFE jga/dr
