Custody battle erupts over four kids who survived Amazon plane crash
Relatives of the four children who miraculously survived 40 days in the Amazon rainforest in Colombia after their plane crashed are now locked in a custody battle for the siblings.
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How did the children survive for 40 days in the Amazon jungle?
The kids' grandfather, Narciso Mucutuy, is looking to take custody of the siblings after accusing the father of two of them, Manuel Ranoque, of abusing their mother, local BLU Radio reports.
Astrid Caceres, director of the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, told the Bogota-based radio station Monday that the agency is interviewing those vying for custody and has yet to rule out the claims that mother Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia and her kids suffered domestic abuse at the hands of Ranoque.
"We are going to talk, investigate, learn a little about the situation," Caceres said.
"The most important thing at this moment is the children's health, which is not only physical but also emotional."
When grilled by reporters following news of the allegations on Sunday, Ranoque said his arguments with his wife were a "private matter" and not "gossip for the world."
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How has social media and traditional media coverage impacted the way people view the event and the aftermath?
Narciso Mucutuy is looking to take custody of his four grandchildren who survived 40 days in the Amazon after he accused their father of abusing their mother. AP
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Who are the children and what led to the plane crash?
He did, however, admit that he had "physical" fights with his wife, but claimed they rarely occurred and that most of their fights were verbal.
The children were reportedly living separately from their father, who had moved away after receiving death threats from FARC guerrillas in the region, according to a report.
Valencia and her kids were on the doomed flight to visit him at his new residence.
Along with news of the custody battle, Caceres also revealed that the youngest of the siblings, whose ages range from 1 to 13, was placed in intensive care, "not due to any serious condition but for closer monitoring due to her age."
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Where are the children now?
Magdalena Valencia had survived the crash, but was left badly injured and urged her kids to go on without her. OPIAC
The siblings, all members of the Huitoto Indigenous tribe, were found alive and well in the Colombian jungle last week, 40 days after the May 1 crash of the plane in which they were traveling.
Officials said the single-engine propeller plane they were traveling in with their mother, an indigenous leader and the pilot, experienced engine failure and crashed into the rainforest.
Although it was initially believed that all the adults died as a result of the crash, Ranoque told The Guardian that his wife had survived the crash, but was left badly injured.
Maria Fatima Valencia, a member of the Huitoto Indigenous tribe, had taught the oldest sibling how to survive in the wilderness, skills the child used to keep her family alive. ABC
Magdalena Valencia and her kids were on the plane to visit her husband. SEMANA
"Before she died, she said to them, 'Maybe you should go,'" he said.
The children left the crash site and embarked on a miraculous journey of survival that included them living off a bag of cassava flour from the wreckage.
The siblings also managed to survive because their indigenous grandmother, Maria Fatima Valencia, taught the eldest how to hunt and fish, and which fruits and seeds were safe to eat in the rainforest, according to reports.
"They were raised by their grandmother," said John Moreno, a leader of the Guanano group in Vaupes, in the southeastern part of Colombia where the children grew up. "They used what they learned in the community, relied on their ancestral knowledge in order to survive."
After the government launched a 150-soldier search for the children, two rescue dogs caught the scent of the kids, and officials located them about two miles from the crash site.
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How did rescuers locate the children?
The children are at a military hospital in the Colombian capital, Bogota, where they are expected to remain for up to three weeks, according to reports. On Saturday, the children were visited by Colombian president Gustavo Petro and Velasquez.