Woman survives jungle ordeal:
IT has been hailed as a miracle, or a testament to the power of a mother’s love. Five days after a plane crash in a remote corner of the Colombian rainforest, a woman and her monthsold baby have been found alive, having survived the jungle on nothing but coconuts.
Maria Nelly Murillo, 18, and her infant son, Yudier Moreno, were flying in a twin-engine Cessna between the towns of Nuquí and Quibdó in the north-western region Chocó when their plane crashed early on Saturday. The pilot was killed and the pair – the only other passengers in the plane – were largely unharmed, apparently insulated against the impact by the plane’s cargo of co- conuts and large fish. Murillo managed to force open the door and carry her baby up a hill to a safe distance.
A rescue team arrived the following day to find the plane empty, aside from the body of the pilot. “We saw there was some peeled coconuts as if they had used them to get out the water and feed themselves,” search and rescue official Rafael Caviedes said.
Rescue workers also found a sandal and other items that Murillo had dropped to mark her path.
But despite following the clues, their search was fruitless and by Tuesday they were become increasingly fearful for the pair’s condition
A plane equipped with loudspeakers began to circle the area with a message urging the woman not to give up.
Murillo, meanwhile, had constructed a makeshift shelter and bed for her baby.
On Wednesday, five days into her ordeal and still having eaten nothing but coconuts, she made her way to a nearby stream, following the riverbank in a desperate attempt to find help.
The air force was about to replace its rescue team, as it was running out of supplies, Carrascal said. They decided to take out a Black Hawk, calling out on loudspeakers for Murillo to return to the site of the accident. Finally, burned, starving and exhausted, she spotted a Red Cross volunteer and promptly burst into tears.
Mother and baby are now in a hospital in Quibdó, where they are receiving treatment. Murillo suffered burns to her face, arms and legs, but her baby was reported completely uninjured. – The Telegraph