Three children and a baby were reported to have been found alive more than two weeks after a plane crashed with them on board in the Colombian Amazon jungle.

Colombian authorities had deployed more than 100 soldiers with sniffer dogs to search for the children who were travelling in a plane that crashed in the Amazon 17 days ago, killing three adults.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said in a tweet on Wednesday that the children were discovered after ‘arduous search efforts’ by the military. ‘A joy for the country,’ he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Colombian armed forces said that search efforts intensified after rescuers came across a ‘shelter built in an improvised way with sticks and branches’, leading them to believe there were survivors. However, there were no reports from the Colombian military confirming the discovery of the children.

(Translation: After arduous search efforts by our Military Forces, we have found alive the 4 children who had disappeared due to the plane crash in Guaviare. A joy for the country.)

Colombia’s El Espectador news outlet reported later that the military had not confirmed finding the children, though information was reportedly received by a government agency that contact had been made.

Source: Somali National News Agency