Timeline: The 40-day Colombian jungle search for four children who survived plane crash

The search was joined by dozens of Indigenous people from nearby villages who are accustomed to travelling through the Amazon – home to jaguars, snakes and other predators, as well as armed drug smuggling groups.

Military aircraft dumped 10,000 flyers into the forest with survival tips and instructions in Spanish and the children’s own Indigenous language.

An air force helicopter also broadcast an audio recording of the children’s grandmother, urging them to stay put.

Shoes, clothes and half-eaten fruit were found among the trees.

About 2.5km from the crash site, soldiers also found a camp abandoned by guerrillas.

PREMATURE ANNOUNCEMENT

Heavy rainfall and giant trees that can grow up to 40m tall made the “Operation Hope” search difficult.

Three weeks after the crash, soldiers found diapers and shoes, and claimed that they had passed within 100m of the children. The search was reduced to a 20 sq km section of jungle.

On May 17, soldiers came across a makeshift shelter, constructed out of sticks and branches. A dog also found scissors and hair ties.

On the same day, President Gustavo Petro announced that the children had been found alive. But he retracted the statement a day later, saying he had been given false information.

On May 26, the military organised a symbolic celebration for the baby, who turned one year old that day, having spent almost a month lost in the jungle.