Four young children have been found alive after more than a month wandering the Amazon where they survived like “Children of the jungle,” according to Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

Petro said the children were all together when they were found, adding they had demonstrated an example of “Total survival that will be remembered in history.” “They are children of the jungle and now they are children of Colombia,” he added.

Authorities were able to locate the children after hearing the cries of the youngest child, an infant, Indigenous leader Lucho Acosta said.

Revealing their discovery earlier in the day, the Colombian president had tweeted an image that seems to show search crews treating the children in a forest clearing, along with the words: “A joy for the whole country!” Their grandmother, María Fátima Valencia, said she was “Going to hug all of them” and “Thank everyone” as soon as they were reunited in their home city of Villavicencio, where they live.

The children, who appear gaunt in the photos, were evaluated by doctors before being flown out by the Colombian Air Force on an air ambulance to the Military Transport Air Command in Bogota, the capital, early Saturday morning.

Petro said the children were weak, needed food and would have their mental status assessed.

The children’s subsequent disappearance into the deep forest galvanized a massive military-led search operation involving over a hundred Colombian special forces troops and over 70 indigenous scouts combing the area.

The Colombian president said he had spoken with the grandfather of the children who said that their survival was in the hands of the jungle which ultimately chose to return them.

Acosta credited the “Extra effort” of search and rescue teams and local authorities to find the children in a statement on Friday.

During a press conference Friday evening, Petro said he hoped to speak with the children on Saturday.