How 4 Kids Survived 40 Days in the Amazon Jungle After a Plane Crash

Even when the rest of the news is at its grimmest, wonders never cease.

And the June 9 rescue of four children who spent 40 days on their own in the Amazon jungle after surviving a plane crash was a solid reminder that hope finds a way.

“First of all, the wish to maintain their lives,” Colombia’s Joint Command of Special Operations head Gen. Pedro Sánchez told NBC News’ TODAY, explaining the seemingly miraculous circumstances that resulted in the kids being found in relatively good condition. “The second one, they are Indigenous people, so they have immunity to so many hazards inside the jungle. And third one, they know the jungle.”

Soldiers and volunteers from local Indigenous tribes searched more than 1,600 miles of dense Amazonian rainforest over the course of six weeks after the single-engine Cessna ferrying the siblings, their mother and an uncle crashed on May 1, according to officials.

Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 13, Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 9, Tien Noriel Ranoque Mucutuy, 4, and Cristin Neriman Ranoque Mucutuy, 11 months, were the sole survivors.