SEleven days after a small plane crashed in Colombia’s Amazon rainforest, the country held its breath over confusing reports that four children had survived the ordeal.

The siblings – 13-year-old Leslie Jacobomber Mukutui, nine-year-old Soleini Jacobomber Mukutui, four-year-old Tien Noriel Ronok Mukutui and 11-month-old Christine Neriman Ranok Mukutui – were traveling in a Cessna 206 when it crashed on May 1 near Guaviare province.

Their mother, Magdalena Mukutuy, the plane’s pilot, and another passenger died in the accident, but the minors were nowhere to be found, the Colombian Air Force said in statement.

Efforts to find the children have escalated in recent days after rescue teams found evidence of their survival in the vast Amazon jungle, including hair ties, baby scissors and a baby bottle.

On Wednesday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that the minors had been found and were in good health. But hours later, he dismissed that claim, clarifying that the air force and local communities had made contact with the children, but their whereabouts remained unknown.

With a massive search underway and the country hoping for good news, here’s everything we know about the crash and the miracle of the children’s survival:

A trip designed to bring a family together

Mukutui traveled with her children to Bogotá to meet her husband Manuel Ranoc and start a new life together.

According to time Mr Rannock, who is related to a local political leader, previously lived on the local Puerto Sabalo reserve with his family.

He had to flee the community on foot after receiving threats from criminal gangs operating in the area. Mr. Ranoc completed his odyssey through the jungle and eventually arrived in Bogotá.

He reportedly found work and saved money for a month and a half to allow his family to be transported from their remote community to the Colombian capital.

But dreams of a reunion were dashed when the small plane carrying Mr Rannock’s wife and children crashed. The plane was en route between Araraquara in Amazonas province and San Jose del Guaviare for the first leg of the journey when it disappeared in the early hours of May 1.

The plane was reported missing the same day, but was not found until May 15 due to adverse weather conditions that delayed search operations.

Mukutui’s mother, Fatima, told El Tiempo that she was searching parts of the jungle alone with other members of the local communities.

“I am waiting for them to return the body (of my daughter). She lived in the jungle for so long. I am waiting for her,” Fatima said. “God is good and I know the children will be found alive.

Proof of survival

Civil aviation authorities, who coordinated the rescue operations, believe the children escaped the plane after the crash and walked into the rainforest to find help.

Efforts to find them intensified after rescue teams, including sniffer dogs, found discarded fruit the children ate to survive and makeshift shelters made from jungle vegetation. Hair ties, children’s scissors and a nursing bottle were also found.

Authorities said three helicopters were involved in the rescue operations, including one that broadcast a recorded message from the children’s grandmother in the Huito language telling them to stop moving through the jungle.

Confusion about the whereabouts of the children

On Wednesday, Mr. Petro said in a statement on Twitter that the children were found after a search by more than 100 soldiers, firefighters and civil aviation officials in the dense jungle of Colombia’s Caqueta province.

“After an intensive search by our military, we have found alive the four children who went missing after a plane crash in Guaviare. A joy for the country,” he said.

Mr Petro deleted his previous tweet, apologizing on Thursday: “I decided to delete the tweet because the information provided by (the government’s child welfare agency, ICBF) could not be verified. I am Sorry for the Confusion.

“The military and local communities will continue in their tireless quest to give the country the news it is waiting for. At that time, there is no other priority but to continue searching until you find them. Children’s lives are the most important thing.”

Government officials “very confident” children will soon be found

The ICFB said it had received information “from the ground” that the children were found in good health. However, defense ministry sources told local media that they had no confirmation that they had been detected.

“Information was received from the area that contact had been made with the four children who were part of the group transported on the plane. This report states that they were found alive and in good health,” the ICBF said in a statement. “However, military forces have not yet been able to establish formal contact due to adverse weather conditions and difficult terrain,” the statement said. Authorities have not been able to “confirm the information received by the ICBF from various sources.”

ICBF director Astrid Caceres said Radio snail on Thursday that the children were safe, but officials had lost satellite contact with them. However, Ms Caceres said they had sent teams to three key areas where the children were believed to be and she was “very confident” they would soon be found.

According to News Caracol correspondent Sneider Rico, local communities in the area said the children were traveling by speedboat but had no means of communication. They are reportedly expected to arrive in Kachiporo rural area.