BOGOTA: "I'm hungry... Our mom's dead..." These words of 13-year-old Leslie who ran up carrying her one-year-old baby brother Cristin are still burning in the mind of Nicolas Gomez. The children arrived in front of Nicholas, a soldier, and his team on the 40th day of the search in the Amazon forests of Colombia.

"Although tired, Leslie ran towards us carrying Cristin in her arms as soon as she saw us. Her other two younger siblings were lying on the ground, exhausted. Upon seeing us, one of the children stood up and repeated Leslie's words... 'Our mother is dead.' We stood there for a moment, not knowing how to comfort them," Nicholas said.

"We then tried to cheer up the children. We told them that we were their friends and showered them with affection. We told them that their father and uncle were waiting and that we were coming from them. We sang to make them laugh," Nicholas added.

On May 1, a small plane carrying four children and a mother crashed in the Amazon forest. Three people, including their mother Magdalena, were killed. However, the children miraculously escaped. Leslie Jacobombaire (13), Soleiny (9), Tien (4) and Cristin (1) were found by the Colombian army on Friday.

Collected water using soda bottle
Tribal man Henry Guerrero said the children had two small bags with them when they were found. The bag contained some clothes, a towel, a torch, two cell phones, a music box and a soda bottle. They collected water from forest streams in soda bottles. Henry also said the children asked for rice pudding and bread.