A group of five people was recently rescued after surviving 36 hours in the Bolivian jungle. When their plane crashed in the Amazon, they sought refuge on top of their submerged aircraft while alligators and anacondas circled the water around them.
The five survivors were rescued after 36 harrowing hours. Photo: Bolivian Civil Defense Vice Ministry
Stranded in a swamp
Twenty-nine-year-old Andres Velarde was flying a single-engine plane over Bolivia on Thursday. He was taking four passengers — three women and a young child — from the town of Baures to the Bolivian city of Trinidad, a flight which should have taken less than an hour.
Suddenly, the engine failed, and the small plane began losing altitude. Velarde began searching for a place to make an emergency landing. Clear, open spaces are not easy to find in the Amazon, but Velarde brought the plane down in a swamp near the Itanomas River.
The rough landing flipped the plane upside down, shaking up the passengers. One of the women, Coria Guary, sustained a deep cut on her forehead, and all of them were bruised and rattled.
The five of them climbed out of the plane, which was sinking into the swamp. They had survived falling out of the sky, but now they had to survive the jungle.
The swamps of the Bolivian Amazon, where the five of them were stranded. Photo: Shutterstock
Alligators, anacondas, and mosquitos
Alligators and anacondas watched them from the water at all times, getting within three meters of the group. The alligators prevented anyone from trying to swim to shore, trapping them on top of the plane. The alligators were caimans, members of the alligator family native to South America. Caiman attacks are rare, but likely under-reported.
But neither the caimans nor the anacondas attacked. Velarde speculated that the gasoline, which was leaking into the water, had made them wary of the plane. Perhaps they were concerned that the people on the plane would also taste like gasoline.
The gasoline in the water also prevented the survivors from drinking. They had ground cassava flour, which one of the women had brought, but no water. Insects swarmed the five survivors, and soon they were covered in mosquito bites, which kept them from sleeping. As the hours dragged on, their situation seemed more and more desperate.
Several species of caiman live in the Amazon basin. Some can grow up to four or five meters long. Photo: Shutterstock
Rescue and relief
After 36 hours stranded on the sunken plane, they heard the sound of motorboats in the distance. Using cellphone flashlights and hoarse shouts, the group caught the attention of the local fishermen, who alerted the authorities. From there, an army helicopter airlifted them to Trinidad for medical attention.
They were dehydrated, battered, and covered in insect bites and cuts, some of which were infected. But all five, including the six-year-old boy, were conscious and in relatively good condition.
From his hospital bed, Velarde admitted, “We couldn’t have handled one more night.”
