Four days in the Colombian jungle: the story of the kidnapped legionnaire’s incredible escape

The detailed account of the Colombian Foreign Legion soldier’s escape was provided by a high-ranking military source to AFP. On the day of his escape, Thursday September 3, José Olger Melo Charry asked to be taken aside to relieve himself, he told the Colombian army. Once alone with his guard, he overpowered him and took his rifle from him while his hands were restrained.

Still with his hands tied, the 35-year-old legionnaire then jumped into a river and managed to escape. After freeing himself from his bonds, he walked for four days through a region of the Colombian Andes where armed groups involved in drug trafficking operate, until arriving on Sunday at a police station located in Policarpa.

“Every time a motorcycle passed, he hid” behind rocks or climbed trees, the military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In his statement to the army, the legionnaire recounted having had a meal with a peasant, fearing however of being denounced to the guerrillas.

During his flight, he also managed to contact his family by telephone. She informed the police that he had escaped and was walking in the mountains.

The military source added that the legionnaire was considered a “big fish” by the guerrillas and that he remained tied up, hands and feet, for most of his captivity.

Returned for vacation

On Monday, the Colombian army announced that the legionnaire had made a four-day journey during his escape, but had not provided details on the conditions of his escape.

José Olger Melo Charry, corporal of the Foreign Legion on leave, had returned to his country for the holidays. He was kidnapped on August 6 by a dissident group of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), while he was traveling on a road in the department of Nariño (southwest), a stronghold of organizations involved in cocaine trafficking and illegal mining.

The Colombian authorities had clarified that the kidnappers never demanded a ransom. His capture was confirmed in a press release in French in which the Franco Benavides front confirmed that it was holding José Olger Melo Charry and assured that his “physical integrity” would be preserved as long as no “hostile military operation” took place in the area.

According to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, the soldier had not been authorized to travel to Colombia. After his capture, this ministry declared that it was following this case very closely, specifying that this soldier did not have French nationality.

With AFP