Five people survive at 36 hours in an aligator swamp after plane crash

Five people have been rescued after spending 36 hours on an airplane in an aligator marsh in the Amazon after being forced to make an emergency landing, local authorities said.

The small plane was found by local fishermen in the Amassonas region in Bolivia on Friday after 48 hours.

The survivors – three women, a child and the 29 -year -old pilot – were rescued in “excellent condition,” said Wilson Avila, director of the Benny Division Emergency Operations Center.

On Thursday, a search and rescue mission was launched after the aircraft disappeared from the Benny Division Radar in Central Bolivia.

The pilot told local media that engine damage caused an emergency landing near the Itanomas River during a flight from Bowers to Northern Bolivia to Trinidad.

Andres Velarde said the plane suddenly began to lose altitude and he was forced to land the craft in a swamp near the lagoon.

The five, who were on board, stood on the top of the plane and were “surrounded by alligators who came three meters away.”

Velarde added that he believed that the leakage of gasoline from the aircraft had kept predators off. They also saw Anaconda in the water, he said.

As they were waiting for rescue, they ate local flour from Cherooka, which one of the passengers had brought.

“We couldn’t drink water and we couldn’t go anywhere else because of the alligators,” Velarde said.

After the fishermen discovered the craft, a helicopter was sent to transport the survivors to the hospital.

Ruben Torres, Director of the Benny Region, said there was “a lot of speculation about the case” and “many theories” after the aircraft disappeared.

“I am really happy, because in the end, all the institutions united so that they could find the missing people and save these lives,” he told Reuters.