(CNN) — A Colombian government official is “very confident” four children were found alive 17 days after their plane crashed in the Amazon jungle but is awaiting further proof.
The Director of Colombia’s Family Affairs Institute, Astrid Caceres, said her team received second hand confirmation that search teams rescued and identified the children missing following the crash of a small airplane in southern Colombia.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro tweeted that the group were found alive but what would be an extraordinary survival story is yet to be confirmed, with government officials battling poor communications and yet to make direct contact with the children.
The children, aged between 11 months old and 13, were found after the Colombian Armed Forces followed a trail of small objects such as hair scrunchies, plastic wrappings and baby bottles that led them to the missing group, authorities said.
Asked why the police and military were continuing search efforts despite reports that the children had been rescued, Caceres said: “It’s hard to communicate in the jungle and yesterday it was raining, too.
“The information I have is that they are fine, we also understand they had very hard days, but these are kids who moved around the area, and they seemed ok,” she added
“We are still missing that very, very last link that confirms all our hopes. Until we have the photo of the kids we won’t be stopping. We are not underestimating the information we received but we want to confirm [directly] ourselves.”
The Colombian Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement earlier that they found a “shelter built in an improvised way with sticks and leaves.”
Rescuers have been searching for the remnant of the Cessna plane since it crashed on May 1 in the country’s southern region of Guaviare in the Amazonas province.
While the children were found alive, Aerocivil said they found another three bodies inside the small aircraft.
The Colombian Armed Forces launched a massive search operation, supported by dog units, local indigenous communities, planes and helicopters, which flew over the region broadcasting a message recorded by the childrens’ grandmother.
President Petro said news of the rescue was “a joy for the country.”
“After arduous searching by our military, we have found alive the four children who went missing after a plane crash in Guaviare. A joy for the country,” Petro tweeted earlier on Thursday.
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