British backpacker Matthew Scott was today recovering in a Colombian hospital after making a daring escape from his kidnappers and wandering through dense jungle for two days.
Colombian rebels who had kidnapped 19-year-old Mr Scott were marching him along a steep mountain path through the Sierra Nevada mountain range when he saw a chance to escape.
He flung himself over the side of the jungle path and tumbled into a swollen river.
Already weakened by 10 days of forced marching and little or no food, Mr Scott wandered alone in dense jungle for two days.
He followed the river valley until he stumbled across locals belonging to the Kogui indigenous group, who gave him food and alerted the army.
Mr Scott was kidnapped at gunpoint on September 12, when rebels in camouflage descended on a cabin near the Lost City, a pre-Colombian archaeological site, where he and 12 other backpackers were sleeping.
Five of the tourists were left behind, reportedly because they had inadequate footwear or were not physically fit.
However a search for seven people kidnapped along with Mr Scott - one Briton, four Israelis, a German and a Spaniard - is still ongoing.
Speaking in Spanish from his hospital bed in Santa Marta, Colombia, Mr Scott expressed his concern for the remaining seven hostages.
"The guy from Israel has asthma, and the other people are very demoralised. They have to walk, a lot, every day, in the rain. The guerrillas weren't giving us very much food," he said.
Mr Scott said that he did not know to which rebel group his kidnappers belonged.
Unshaven and exhausted, but smiling, Mr Scott described his escape, saying: "We were on the mountainside, I heard the river on the right and I followed the sound. The sides were very deep. I jumped over the sides very quickly. I was lucky not to break my arms or legs."
"I have eaten hardly anything for the last 12 days. The tribe that found me gave me soup and beans with a little salt and three oranges. Those are the only things I've eaten in the last 12 days," he added.
Mr Scott's clearly relieved father, James, speaking outside the family's London home, said: "We're pleased. We have spoken to him and we're looking forward to seeing him.
"He's tired and in hospital in northern Colombia, and we are hoping that he will come back soon."
Another Briton, Mark Henderson, 31, from Yorkshire, is still being held hostage. Today, his mother, Sharelle, said: "We are obviously pleased for Matthew and his family, and just hope Mark and the rest all get out."
Colombian army general Leonel Gomez said that Mr Scott was flown by helicopter to an army base at Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast.
General Carlos Alberto Ospina, commander of the Colombian army, said that Mr Scott had already provided information that enabled security forces to narrow their search for the remaining hostages.
"This gives us hope to continue with the operation and free them," Gen Ospina said. The foreign office said that it had no further news on Mr Henderson.
Colombia's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, has denied involvement in the mass kidnapping. There has been no comment from the smaller National Liberation Army, known as the ELN. Around 3,000 kidnappings take place in Colombia every year.
Yesterday, British diplomats flew over part of the Sierra Nevada mountain range to watch as hundreds of soldiers, supported by a fleet of Black Hawk helicopters, searched for the kidnapped tourists.