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One of the five elderly people, 76-year-old Luis Florez, has described the ordeal, and the precision of the rebel operation.

He said the Fokker plane, on a regular domestic flight from Bucaramanga to the capital, Bogota, was hijacked just 10 minutes into the flight.

Five men in suits, complete with briefcases were the last to get on the plane.

Nelson Vega and his wife Rita with three-month old rescued baby Juan

They were the last to get on the plane and, as it completed its ascent, they donned ski masks and, brandishing pistols, swiftly took over the aircraft.

The hijackers have been identified by the Colombian government as National Liberation Army members.

According to Mr Florez, they guided the pilot at gunpoint to a remote jungle airstrip in Simiti, 120km from Bucaramanga.

A group of heavily-armed guerrillas guided the 41 passengers and 5 crew to waiting canoes on the nearby Magdalena river.

The travellers were taken up the river before being forced to disembark and board four-wheel-drive vehicles, which took them deep into a remote jungle region.

Release relief

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the guerrillas handed over the group of six to a Red Cross official close to the area where the aircraft was forced to land.

BBC's Jeremy McDermott: Government says little chance of rescuing hostages

Colombian police and army units continue to comb the area looking for clues as to where the remaining captives have been taken.

Among the remaining hostages is believed to be an American, but the US embassy are refusing to confirm or deny the fact.

Meanwhile, the resuced baby has been reunited with his parents, Nelson Vega and his wife Rita.

Three-month old Juan Vega had been travelling with his grandmother.

'Rebels responsible'

The Colombian Government had earlier accused the ELN, Colombia's second largest rebel group, of carrying out the hijack.

The Colombian army began a search for the passengers after pilots who flew over the landing strip in Simiti reported seeing people dressed in jungle fatigues hustling the 41 passengers and five crew into canoes on the Magdalena River.

Police who later landed at the strip found the twin-engined Fokker 50 turbo-prop plane empty with no signs of a violent struggle.

Simiti is 80 miles northwest of Bucaramanga, where the aircraft had taken off at 1030 local time en route to the capital, Bogota. The flight normally takes 65 minutes.

Air force commander General Fabio Velasco said people in uniform were seen surrounding the plane by a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot.

Among the passengers were a politician from the ruling Conservative Party, a mayor, and the head of the state-owned natural gas company, Ecogas.