Survivors Rescued After 36-Hour Ordeal in Alligator-Infested Swamp

Five people, including a child, endured a harrowing 36 hours atop a submerged plane in an alligator-infested swamp following an emergency landing in Bolivia's Amazonas region.

Five fortunate survivors, comprising three women, a child, and a 29-year-old pilot, were rescued after braving 36 hours on top of their downed aircraft in a swamp teeming with alligators. The incident began when their small plane, en route from Baures to Trinidad, faced an engine failure and made an emergency landing near the Itanomas River. The aircraft went missing for 48 hours before local fishermen stumbled upon it on Friday.

Pilot Andres Velarde reported that the aircraft suddenly lost altitude, leaving him with little choice but to land it in a lagoon surrounded by treacherous waters. As they waited for rescue, the group found themselves encircled by alligators, which at times came alarmingly close—a mere three meters away. Remarkably, Velarde speculated that a leaking fuel tank may have deterred the predators from attacking.

To sustain themselves during the ordeal, the survivors relied on cassava flour that one of them had brought along. "We couldn't drink water and we couldn't go anywhere else because of the alligators," Velarde recounted.

A rescue operation was initiated once the plane disappeared from radar, and authorities quickly mobilized. A helicopter was dispatched after the fishermen's discovery, ensuring the safe transport of the survivors to a nearby hospital. Ruben Torres, director of the Beni Region Health Department, expressed his relief at the outcome and praised the collaboration of various institutions that led to their successful retrieval in a tale that could have had a very different ending.