Pupils have to cross a rickety suspension bridge over a crocodile-infested river to get to school every day.
Six students were seen navigating it as the fast-moving water rages below their feet.
The bridge, which looks like something out of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, has metal mesh on the sides to prevent pedestrians falling into the river.
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The students have to cross the bridge to attend school five days a week.
The rickety bridge is located in the area of Buraga in the rural municipality of Macaravita, north east of Bogota, Colombia.
It connects the students’ homes in Buraga with the state school situated on the other side of the river.
Parents have been complaining to the local authorities ever since the main bridge was destroyed in a landslide about six years ago.
The authorities have not yet given residents a timeframe of when they plan to install the new bridge.
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A similar situation takes place every day in the nearby municipality of Molagavita.
Children have to cross the raging Chicamocha River using a zipline.
Images show several students using their bare hands to travel across the fast-moving water while strapped into a harness and pulley.
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![Pupils in Buraga, Colombia, cross a rickety suspension bridge over a crocodile-infested river daily to reach school, while others in Molagavita use a dangerous zipline across the Chicamocha River.](https://whatsthejam.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Pupils-forced-to-cross-rickety-suspension-bridge-over-croc-infested-river-to-get-to-school-2.jpg)
One local fumed: “Children have to take risks every day.
“Adults have to go to work or pop out to buy groceries, and we have to move along this zipline.
“It’s incredibly dangerous for us.”
Earlier this year, a court ruled that local councils in the area had to provide a minimum of two-months training to the students on how to use the zipline safely.
This did not go down well with local Marco Antonio Velásquez who was outraged by the ruling.
He called on the authorities to “implement a contingency plan that allows for the construction of a temporary structure to replace the current pulley system.”
It is unclear when the new bridge will be built.
In recent years, about 80% of the roads in the municipality have been destroyed by floods and landslides, as reported on What’s the Jam.