Reports that four children from a plane crash in the middle of the Amazon rainforest miraculously survived two weeks later turned out to be untrue.
It was a misinformation that occurred when the president of Colombia hastily reported on Twitter an unconfirmed survival report from a related agency.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote on Twitter on the 18th (local time), “I am sorry that this has happened.” .
The night before, he said, “After a hard search by our military, we found four missing children,” and said, “It is the joy of the whole country.”
This tweet was reported worldwide. Major media outlets around the world, including Reuters and AFP, covered this news with great importance. Related articles also poured in in Korea, and the reaction continued, saying, “It’s really fortunate.”
However, this was a hasty announcement by the Colombian president.
The accident occurred on the 1st in the province of Caqueta in southern Colombia. A small plane crashed in the Amazon jungle. There were four children aged 13, 9, 4, and 11 months old and three adults on board. All three adults, including the pilot and the children’s mother, were found dead, but the children were missing.
The Colombian military search team has been searching the jungle for over two weeks in adverse conditions such as trees up to 40m tall, continuous heavy rain, and threatening wild animals. The search team recorded the children’s grandmother’s voice saying, “Don’t move more,” and broadcast it by helicopter.
During this process, the search team found traces of baby bottles, leftover pieces of fruit, hair ties, scissors, and a hut made of vegetation.
However, this news appears to have been distorted. The Colombian daily newspaper Elspectador reported that the department of child welfare agencies seems to have caused such confusion by posting a ‘survival report’ that has not been fully confirmed.
President Petro said in a tweet that day, “The military units and indigenous communities will continue the search to deliver the news that the whole nation has been waiting for.” does not exist. Children’s lives are the most important.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.