Colombia’s president handed out 86 medals to soldiers, Indigenous volunteers and government officials who helped in the rescue of four children who spent 40 days on their own in the jungle after a plane crash.
The children, Indigenous siblings, were on a small plane with their mother and two other adults when it crashed in the Amazon on May 1. The three adults died.
Some 70 Indigenous people worked with more than 150 soldiers to look for the children in difficult terrain, using helicopters and GPS devices but also drawing inspiration from traditional knowledge of the jungle. The children, aged 1 to 13, were found June 9 by four volunteers from the Muruy people.
A Belgian shepherd named Drugia was also saluted by the president.
Military officials said the dog was the mother of Wilson, the sniffer dog who became a national hero after helping find the children. Wilson hasn’t been found seen since May 18, when he raced away from the search party following a scent.
The military has said searchers followed Wilson’s pawprints, which led them into the general area where the children were eventually found three weeks later by four of the Indigenous volunteers.
