Five people survive 36 hours in alligator-infested swamp after Amazon plane crash

A pilot has spoken out after crash-landing in a Bolivian stretch of the Amazon jungle.

Carrying three women and a child onboard his aircraft, Pablo Andres Velarde was flying from the village of Baures to Trinidad when he was forced into cutting their journey short.

Per Sky News, Velarde recalled a “tough landing” as the plane flipped over upon impact with a predator-infested swamp.

The five of them, who survived 36 hours with nothing to drink and just cassava flour for nourishment, sought safety on top of the craft as it lay submerged in the water.

Velarde claimed they were surrounded by “huge alligators” which lingered all day and night “three to four metres” away.

Armed with his phone’s torch, the pilot managed to keep an eye on the man-eating gators and other threats such as snakes and mosquitoes.

When they eventually heard the sound of a nearby fishing boat, Velarde used his flashlight to gain its attention whilst also shouting for help.

The fivesome were airlifted to hospital via helicopter on Friday (May 2).

“We were happy because we could not survive another night,” said the pilot. “We were very tired. We couldn’t stand anymore, because we had to stand so we could keep an eye on the animals.”

Director of the Beni region health department, Ruben Torres, went on to share in a statement: “I am really happy because in the end all the institutions joined together to be able to find the missing people and save those lives that now receive the attention they need. Being with their families is important.”

This comes after a group of hunters caught a record-breaking 363kg monster on Mississippi’s Yazoo River in the summer of 2023.

Measuring 14 feet 3 inches in length, the US state’s Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks later revealed that the gator boasted a 66-inch belly girth and 46-inch-thick tail.