A nine-year-old boy was miraculously found over the weekend after spending six days lost in a Mexican jungle drenched by Hurricane Milton, drinking water from puddles to survive.
The ordeal began on October 5, when little Joel Acosta ran away from his home in the town of Palizada, in Campeche, after his stepfather told him that he was not allowed to have any more dogs as pets.
Acosta, also known as ‘El Choco’, left with his dogs and his parents reported him missing when he did not return, initially thinking he had gone to play near a stream just 200 meters from their house.
The boy then got lost in the jungle, which is home to crocodiles and snakes, and was unable to find his way back home for the next few days before Hurricane Milton hit the region with heavy rain.
Joel Acosta was rescued on Friday after spending six days lost in a jungle near his home in the city of Palizada, southeastern Mexico, after fleeing.
Rescue workers provide water and a jacket to Joel Acosta after he was located near a cabin on Friday, six days after he escaped.
The rescue team saw one of Acosta’s dogs with him when they found the boy on Friday.
A rescue team made up of the Local Persons Search Commission of the State of Campeche, police and residents of the area led the search for Acosta and drones were deployed.
However, initial efforts were unsuccessful after the storm erased the dogs’ tracks.
Authorities caught a break when Acosta’s dogs, Bobi, returned to the neighborhood after the Campeche prosecutor’s office issued an Amber Alert.
Authorities intensified the search and located Acosta next to a cabin on Friday morning.
Acosta was rushed to the hospital and treated for dehydration and malnutrition.
Acosta spent six days lost in an area of the jungle where snakes and crocodiles are often seen
Acosta is taken by one of the workers assigned to the Local Persons Search Commission of the State of Campeche after being found in the jungle
Images released by authorities showed Acosta barefoot, wearing a T-shirt and shorts.
Rafael Miranda, who supervises the road unit of the Department of Security and Citizen Protection of Campeche, revealed that Acosta survived by drinking water from puddles and during the nights he guided himself and his dogs by looking at the stars.
‘He left home in the middle of a hurricane, which is amazing; Now he will be able to face any challenge,’ said Miranda, according to local media Por Esto.
Javier Quintero, director of the Local Persons Search Commission of the State of Campeche, told Univision that Acosta ‘had vital signs’ and was ‘obviously a little dehydrated, disoriented.’
The military rushed the boy to a hospital in Zapata, a town in the nearby state of Tabasco, where doctors treated him for malnutrition and dehydration.
Acosta was taken into custody of the child welfare system while investigators look into whether his mother and stepfather were responsible for his escape.