Relatives Want Custody of 4 Who Survived Plane Crash in Amazon

Relatives Want Custody¹ of 4 Who Survived Plane Crash in Amazon

Four native children survived a plane crash and 40 days alone in the Amazon rainforest in Colombia. Now, a custody battle has started among their family members.

The children are siblings², or brothers and sisters. They range in age from 1 to 13. They remained hospitalized Monday and are expected to stay there for several more days. During that time, Colombia's child protection agency is speaking to family members to decide who should care for them after their mother died in the crash on May 1.

Astrid Cáceres is head of the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare. She said in a radio discussion that a caseworker was assigned to the children at the request of their mother's parents. The grandparents are competing for custody with the father of the two youngest children.

Cáceres added that it was be possible that the children and their mother experienced abuse. "The most important thing at this moment is the children's health, which is not only physical but also emotional," she said.

On Sunday, grandfather Narciso Mucutuy accused Manuel Ranoque of beating his daughter, Magdalena Mucuty. Ranoque is the father of the two youngest children.

Mucutuy told reporters that the children would hide in the forest when Ranoque and his daughter fought.

Ranoque told reporters that there had been trouble at home. But he called it as a private family concern and not "gossip for the world."

When asked whether he had attacked his wife, Ranoque said: "Verbally, sometimes, yes. Physically³, very little. We had more verbal fights."

Ranoque said he has not been permitted to see the two oldest children at the hospital. Cáceres did not provide a comment on why Ranoque could not see them.

On May 1, the children were traveling by plane with their mother from the Amazonian village of Araracuara to the town of San Jose del Guaviare. The plane's engine failed. It fell off radar⁴ a short time later. A search then began for the three adults and four children who were on the plane.

For more than a month, the children survived by eating cassava flour and seeds as well as some fruits they found in the rainforest. The children are members of the Huitoto Indigenous⁵ group.

The siblings were finally found Friday, 40 days after the crash. They were flown to the capital, Bogota. Then they arrived at a military hospital, where they have received mental health services and other support.

As they recover, the children have spoken with family members about their time in the jungle. The oldest, Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, said their mother was alive for about four days after the crash before dying, Ranoque said.

The plane was found two weeks after the crash in a thick area of rainforest. The bodies of the three adults were recovered, but there was no sign of the children. That led people to hope that they were still alive.

Soldiers in helicopters dropped boxes of food into the jungle. Planes fired off flares⁷ at night to light up the ground for search teams. Rescuers also used speakers to send a message recorded by the children's grandmother telling them to stay in one place.

The children were finally found last Friday about five kilometers from the crash in a small opening in the jungle. General Pedro Sanchez led the search effort as chief of the military's Special Operations Command.

Relatives and officials have praised Lesly for guiding her younger siblings through the 40 days in the jungle. The youngest child turned 1 while they were missing.

Words in This Story

custody — n. the legal right to take care of a child

gossip — n. information about the behavior and personal lives of other people

radar — n. a device that sends out radio waves for finding out the position and speed of a moving object

indigenous — adj. produced, living, or existing naturally in a particular region or environment

flare⁶ — n. a light that shines brightly and briefly⁸

relative — n. a member of your family

1 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

2 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

3 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

4 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

5 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

6 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。

7 flares   

n.喇叭裤v.（使）闪耀( flare的第三人称单数 )；（使）（船舷）外倾；（使）鼻孔张大；（使）（衣裙、酒杯等）呈喇叭形展开

参考例句：

• The side of a ship flares from the keel to the deck. 船舷从龙骨向甲板外倾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation. 他是火爆性子，一点就着。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。