More than once, he felt "powerless," Sanchez told AFP, as the search team found clues to indicate the children were near, only to lose the trail.
Sanchez had previously credited a "miracle" with the survival of the kids without any of the specialized equipment, protective clothing, backup food and water his hardened team had.
The siblings: Lesly (13), Soleiny (9), Tien Noriel (5) and one-year-old Cristin were found last Friday after wandering the Amazon for 40 days after the May 1 small plane crash that killed their mother and two other adults on board, apparently on impact.
In his own words, Sanchez shared some of the rescue team's experiences.
Q: What was the hardest moment?
A: We found the aircraft on May 15. Three days later we had collected so much evidence: the baby bottle, (a pair of) scissors, the hairband, a shelter (built by the kids), a freshly eaten passion fruit and very recent footprints about 24-48 hours old.
We said: 'Today we will find them...' Immediately we deployed more troops: we sent in special operators and I told them: 'You must not stop until you find these four minors. For 24 hours you are going to give absolutely everything amid the rain, in extremely hostile terrain.'
We found absolutely nothing. The rain had wiped out all the prints...
I felt powerless. When I went home I hugged my son, saw him... asleep in bed and my mind moved to the jungle and I imagined four children in the exact opposite conditions and maybe about to die.
Q: What were the conditions like for your men?
A: I lost two kilos (4.4 pounds) in two days. The men of our special forces receive very rigorous training to be able to endure (conditions such as the ones in which the children found themselves.)
We have seen cases (in training) of them being immersed in the jungle for 45 days. Obviously they are reprovisioned.
In this time, they can lose up to 10 kilos on top of risking certain diseases.
Q: Were some among the search team injured?
A: Four of our men suffered injuries: one to an eye, another to his lip, one cut a finger and another received a blow to the back. We had to withdraw them.
Q: What other risks did they face?
A: Dissidents of the FARC (disarmed guerrilla group). When the accident happened there had been a bilateral ceasefire with the dissidents, but in the midst of the search that agreement was broken because they murdered (four Indigenous people in another part of the Amazon region).
We calculated they (the dissidents) were about 60 kilometers away, that is why we had a warning system in place.
In this area there are drug trafficking routes that go mainly from Colombia to Brazil with cocaine and marijuana.
Q: Did the children have any food left when you found them?
A: They were only eating wild fruit. One of the girls was sucking on a seed. The older girl, one of the family members told us, fed the youngest one by collecting fruit, chewing it, and mixing it in a container with a little water.
Q: What have you learnt about the accident?
A: Chances of survival were higher further away from the nose (of the plane) and the children were all in the back.
The older girl says she saw her little sister in her mother's arms (after the crash), moving her feet. She took the baby.
They took everything that could be useful to them and walked for about three days. They came back because they had thought their mother was asleep and not dead, (but) when they arrived there were only the three bodies in the plane, in the process of decomposing.
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