Benjamín Sánchez went missing during a family trip on Sunday and was found by a team of volunteers 21km (13 miles) from where he was last seen.

"I was cold, I slept badly, leaning on a rock," said the boy, who was wearing only a T-shirt and light trousers.

He said he had survived by eating grass and drinking water from a stream.

After being rescued on Monday afternoon, the child was taken by helicopter to a hospital in San Juan suffering slight dehydration and was released on Tuesday.

'I got scared'

Benjamín was found sitting under a tree by a motorcyclist after a search operation that involved some 1,000 police, civil defence officials and volunteers.

"My mum was chasing me and I started running. At first I could hear her but then I got lost," he told El Clarín newspaper (in Spanish).

"I leaned on a stone, started calling her, but she didn't hear me... I [started] walking towards a light that was very far away."

Temperatures in the region this time of the year vary from 30C (86F) during the day to around zero at night.

BBC