Indigenous brothers aged 7 and 9 survive after 25 days lost in the Amazon jungle

Two indigenous brothers aged 7 and 9 were found after spending 25 days lost in the jungle in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, and are recovering in a hospital from severe malnutrition that they suffered after feeding only on wild fruits.

The children, Glaucon and Gleison, ages 7 and 9, respectively, were found Tuesday by a friend “35 km from the place where they disappeared, with a picture of severe malnutrition and dehydration, and now they are gaining weight, without risk of death,” Januário Carneiro da Cunha Neto, coordinator of the Special Indigenous Health District (DSEI), in Manaus, the state capital, told AFP on Friday.

The brothers, of the Mura ethnic group, had been missing since February 18, when they entered to hunt birds in the thick vegetation from the community where they live, in a rural area of ​​the municipality of Manicoré, about 330 km from Manaus.

During the time they remained in the jungle, “they only drank rainwater and lake water, and ate sorva”, a fruit from the region with a high content of carbohydrates and fats, detailed Carneiro da Cunha Neto.

Rosinete da Silva Carvalho, mother of the children and their ten siblings, told the Rede Amazonica chain that “they were used to eating sorva, because my eldest son always brought a bag for them when he went hunting.”

“That allowed them to survive,” explained the coordinator, who spoke with the family at the Manaus hospital, where lThe brothers also recover from skin lesions and some infections under constant supervision, but without the need to be admitted to the intensive care unit.

Images broadcast by local media show the extremely skinny children after the rescue, when they were transferred to a hospital in Manaus.

After almost a month, his discovery was accidental, Given the search tasks formal investigations by the fire department had ceased a week after the disappearance, and only continued by indigenous people of the area. “An acquaintance of the family who went to collect wood ended up finding the children by chance,” explained the DSEI coordinator.

During the long days in which they tried unsuccessfully to find their way home, the oldest of the children, Gleison, took care of his younger brother, carrying him on his back when exhaustion, exacerbated by the lack of food and water, Carneiro da Cunha Neto said.

In addition to that risk, he added, the children walked tens of kilometers in that jungle area exposed to wild animals, such as cobras.

The episode recalls the one experienced in early 2021 by a pilot Antonio Sena who, after his plane crashed, spent 38 days lost in the Brazilian Amazon and survived.

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Two indigenous brothers aged 7 and 9 were found after spending 25 days lost in the jungle in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, and are recovering in a hospital from severe malnutrition that they suffered after feeding only on wild fruits.

The children, Glaucon and Gleison, ages 7 and 9, respectively, were found Tuesday by a friend “35 km from the place where they disappeared, with a picture of severe malnutrition and dehydration, and now they are gaining weight, without risk of death,” Januário Carneiro da Cunha Neto, coordinator of the Special Indigenous Health District (DSEI), in Manaus, the state capital, told AFP on Friday.

The brothers, of the Mura ethnic group, had been missing since February 18, when they entered to hunt birds in the thick vegetation from the community where they live, in a rural area of ​​the municipality of Manicoré, about 330 km from Manaus.

During the time they remained in the jungle, “they only drank rainwater and lake water, and ate sorva”, a fruit from the region with a high content of carbohydrates and fats, detailed Carneiro da Cunha Neto.

Rosinete da Silva Carvalho, mother of the children and their ten siblings, told the Rede Amazonica chain that “they were used to eating sorva, because my eldest son always brought a bag for them when he went hunting.”

“That allowed them to survive,” explained the coordinator, who spoke with the family at the Manaus hospital, where lThe brothers also recover from skin lesions and some infections under constant supervision, but without the need to be admitted to the intensive care unit.

Images broadcast by local media show the extremely skinny children after the rescue, when they were transferred to a hospital in Manaus.

After almost a month, his discovery was accidental, Given the search tasks formal investigations by the fire department had ceased a week after the disappearance, and only continued by indigenous people of the area. “An acquaintance of the family who went to collect wood ended up finding the children by chance,” explained the DSEI coordinator.

During the long days in which they tried unsuccessfully to find their way home, the oldest of the children, Gleison, took care of his younger brother, carrying him on his back when exhaustion, exacerbated by the lack of food and water, Carneiro da Cunha Neto said.

In addition to that risk, he added, the children walked tens of kilometers in that jungle area exposed to wild animals, such as cobras.

The episode recalls the one experienced in early 2021 by a pilot Antonio Sena who, after his plane crashed, spent 38 days lost in the Brazilian Amazon and survived.

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